


Just a Nightmare: Enter the Nightmare

by GokuGirl



Series: Just a Nightmare [2]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-04-13
Updated: 2003-04-13
Packaged: 2018-04-11 06:20:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4424711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GokuGirl/pseuds/GokuGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are mundane for a short while... until people began having nightmares, that is. Secret fears are brought to life in an attempt to destroy the bonds between loves and only one little girl can find the cause.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be rewritten eventually, but feel free the enjoy this version.
> 
> Ages: Trunks (20), Goten (19), Bra (8)

_Over 3,000 Years Ago..._

Flames engulfed the entire west side of the city and its residents were fleeing in panic. Lemnos had been the seventh to succumb since the start of the demon's rampage on Planet Remnar and there seemed to be no one that could stop him.

The demon's black scaled form stood upon the spire of the Temple of Etha, his deep red eyes surveying all that he had ruined. It had been a good day for death... especially since no one had been expecting it. It had been the day of the Summer Festival, a time that was usually filled with merriment and good cheer. Now, it would forever be known as the day death came to Lemnos.

"You will be punished for your crimes, Nightmare!" A female voice cried from the street below. He looked down and eyed the tiny woman who dared to threaten him. She wore the pristine white robes of a Priestess of Etha and carried a staff with two golden rings on both sides of a vertical star. Her amethyst eyes were narrowed in outrage and her hand clutched the staff in a white-knuckled fist.

Nightmare's lips pulled back to bare his pointed teeth in a grin. In a low-pitched voice he told the priestess just how much he didn't believe her words. "Your numbers may be many, but all of you combined do not possess enough power to defeat me." He leapt from the spire and lightly landed before her. "Allow me to show you just how doomed your people are."

His faith in himself was great, but greater was the priestess' faith in her goddess. Etha had come to her in a vision days before and given her the power to forever seal away the chaos demon known as Nightmare. Extending the star staff, she began her prayer.

"Etha, mother of creation, I beg of thee. Please fill your most loyal servant with the power to bind this demon in Hell for all eternity."

For a moment nothing happened. Nightmare smirked at her attempt to stop him and started forward once more. Then the triumphant young woman began to glow in white light that quickly moved up the staff to gather at the tip of the star. As the demon watched in abject horror, the luminescence flowed from the star staff and engulfed him completely. Screaming in rage, Nightmare tried to fight the holy power and could not.

Raising the staff high, the priestess sealed his fate. "Begone from here and trouble us no more!"

"Nothing can hold me for long!" Nightmare shouted as a gaping portal opened below him. He dropped downward and vanished into it. "You will see! You will all see!"

***

_Present Day..._

For millennia he sat quietly in his cell waiting for day he tasted freedom once again. It was a change of pace from the demon that, for two centuries, paced restlessly and snarled at anyone unfortunate enough to get too close. No matter how docile he seemed to be, however, the dungeon master knew that he would always remain an evil creature and wouldn't trust him not to corrupt an innocent.

Yet the ogres were understaffed due to Enma's budget cuts so he had to station a relatively young ogre beside Nightmare's cell. He had no fear that Ignas wouldn't do his job... as long as the demon remained totally silent.

The young male ogre with the still-bright outlook peered into the gloom that filled the demon's cell. Ignas had heard frightening things from the others about the sole occupant, but never thought he would get the chance to see him in person.

Too bad no one would ever believe it.

Unless... "Um, Mister Nightmare? Can I have your autograph?"

He received nothing but silence for several long moments and Ignas feared that he'd offended him in some way. Then a patch of darkness even deeper than the rest moved and two glowing, blood-red ellipses turned to regard him. Ignas held his breath until the wide mouth bared its white teeth in a semblance of a smile, and by then he was light-headed from a profound lack of oxygen.

"You wish for my signature?" Nightmare asked in a faintly amused tone. "What purpose does it serve?"

Trembling slightly, Ignas marveled at how his facial features seemed to float in an inky sea. "My peers speak of you often... mainly to scare each other."

The creature shifted so that a sliver of light from the single window sliced across his face, illuminating his left eye and nose, but leaving the rest in darkness. "Ah, so my name is still whispered in the night. Good to see that they have not forgotten about me."

"No one could  _ever_  forget about the demon who murdered eight million people in one week! You are a legend!" Fear now replaced by captivation, the young ogre all but pressed himself against the cell's steel bars.

"So, you would like to impress your friends? I cannot write, young one, for I am restrained by blessed manacles. Free me and my autograph is yours."

Intelligence warred with want and lost miserably. Ignas pulled a key from his pants pocket and, after looking around to make sure none of the other guards were paying attention, inserted it into the keyhole. With a quiet snick, the cell door opened.

He may not have been smart enough to ignore Nightmare's false gentleness, but he had just enough intelligence to close the door behind him. That would have been enough.... if he hadn't freed the demon.

"Can you make it out to Ignas, your number one fan?" the ogre asked as he unlocked the manacles confining Nightmare's hands. "Better yet, can you call me your best-friend?"

"Oh, I have something quite excellent that I can call you..." The demon stretched for the first time in what seemed like forever. "How about imbecile?"

Ignas frowned. "Hey, that's not very nice."

He flashed a wicked grin. "I'm a demon, Ignas. What else do you expect from me?" Before the ogre could answer (or even blink), a clawed hand shot out and grabbed him around the throat. "I thank you for freeing me, but no one else can find out about what you've done. At least not until after I've had a little fun. Goodbye, Ignas, you've served me considerably well."

As the life faded from his body, the young ogre knew that that he would carry the pain from the demon's betrayal for all eternity. Nightmare, however, would completely forget about the entire incident in just a few hours.

"I will bring absolute terror to the mortal realm once again. Soon, everyone will know the name of Nightmare!" Throwing his head back, the demon let out a full laugh that bounced from the stone walls and caused the other prisoners to quake in fear. A few seconds later, a gateway was created by his hand and the unholy creature was liberated from his millennia-long imprisonment.


	2. Chapter 2

Vegeta had to go over the bonding ritual three times before Gohan was satisfied that he learned it correctly. The young man wanted a bond with his wife too much to screw things up. Late one Saturday night, the couple sat crosslegged in a tent in the forest. Pan was spending the night with her grandfathers.

"Are you sure we can do it this way?" Videl asked. "Goku-san and Vegeta-san, Trunks and Goten all bonded under the open sky."

He took one look outside and involuntarily shivered. "Honey, it's freezing out there."

"Maybe we should wait until spring, then. I'm in no hurry..."

Gohan shook his head. "Don't you want something as profound as the bond?"

"Hai, but I can  _wait_." Videl sighed as she saw the pleading look in his eyes. There was no other choice but to give in. "Oh, alright. If it doesn't work, we always have warm weather and full moons."

Her consent unsealed the wellspring of boyish delight that the serious young man often kept covered. Clearing away his thoughts, he sent his senses outward and tried to touch the mind of his wife. There was nothing.

' _Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough,_ ' Gohan thought to himself uncertainly. Then he nodded. ' _Hai, that's probably it._ '

He searched again, this time using all the effort he possessed within his entire being. This time he brushed against something distant, but it was nothing he could link with. ' _Her mind... Videl doesn't have access to any psychic abilities._ ' Before he became depressed about the realization, Gohan quickly moved onward to the next step. ' _I can accept a bond without a mental link. Seems sort of intrusive, anyhow._ ' He knew despite his words that things wouldn't be as good without the connection, but he was definitely willing to settle.

"Videl, you can go first," he told her.

She frowned in puzzlement. "That was step one? I didn't feel a thing."

"Don't worry about that."

"Alright...." The young woman smiled. "You've already heard my speech at our wedding ceremony, but I will repeat them again for the sake of this ritual along with a few additions, of course. Gohan, you are the light of my life. I can't imagine my world without you in it. You've given me seven wonderful years and a beautiful daughter who is so much like the two of us that it makes me smile. If, for some reason, we are unable to spend the rest of our lives together, I will always remember the good times we shared and not long for the ones we hadn't been blessed with. Life is so full of unexpectedness that we must live each day as if it were our last."

Most of her words were familiar, but the new ones were equally as touching as the old.

Gohan didn't have anything prepared. There were always his vows from the wedding, but he wanted to say something unique to fit the mood. "We're two of a kind, Videl. A perfectly mated pair. Without you, I am incomplete." ' _Short, but sweet._ ' He was quite satisfied with himself to say the least.

The third, and final, part of the bonding ritual made him blush just by thinking about it. Of course, it wasn't as if he hadn't ever done something like it before (their honeymoon had been fantastic), but a ritual-related joining seemed more intense somehow.

He moved to embrace Videl just as she held up a hand to stop him. "Wait a minute, Gohan. There's something we should talk about first."

"Um, what is it?" he asked, seriously confused.

"I was under the impression that we were going to bond, Gohan. You convinced me that you knew what you were doing. I feel absolutely nothing. Why is that?" Her dark eyes were narrowed and her hands were perched upon her hips.

Chuckling with nervousness, he searched for an explanation that didn't make either of them look bad. "Well, I couldn't form a connection with you, hon. It's not really a big deal. We went a long time without even knowing of the bond's existence...."

"That was before!" she practically shouted. "Now that I know what's out there, I can't be content with a basic relationship."

"You didn't say that before..."

"I was  _lying_ before!"

His heart began to beat faster. "W-what are you saying?"

"Gohan, I want a divorce!"

He awoke drenched in sweat, a hoarse cry lodged in his throat. For a moment he stared blankly at his surroundings, but soon he could make out the familiar sight of the bedroom he shared with his wife. Videl was sleeping peacefully beside him, completely unaffected by his restlessness. "It was just a nightmare," he sighed in relief. "Thank Kami."

After trying for an hour to return to sleep (and failing), Gohan wandered into the kitchen and made himself a snack. Granted, "snack" isn't what you'd usually call five sandwiches and a pot of tomato soup, but he wasn't an ordinary man. It would have been more but Gohan didn't want to get too full. If he skipped breakfast, Videl would know that something was wrong.

What in the world was his subconscious trying to tell him, anyway? That the bond had no chance of working? Gohan knew, because he was only demi-Saiya-jin, that a link would take tremendous effort unless Videl met him halfway. Trunks and Goten's minds had touched in the middle, each exerting himself no more than he should have had to.

His wife had no psychic ability that he was aware of. In fact, it was an overall rarity in the ningen race. He was just unable to link with an unresponsive mind. Even after coming to this conclusion, Gohan wondered if it would have worked if he'd been born a full Saiya-jin. Did the pure-blooded have an overabundance of psychic ability?

"Iie," he said aloud firmly. "I refuse to let a dream affect me this much. It was a nightmare and nothing more." In fact, he would sent Pan over to the Capsule Corporation and they would undergo the bonding ritual that very night.

***

Gohan's mind was miles away and all those he came across could plainly see it. He made careless mistakes with the paperwork of several accounts and nearly lost the company a few clients. His boss was being pressured by the higher-ups to do something about the sudden flood of complaints, so she stopped by Gohan's office to have a word with him.

"You're off your game, Son," she said bluntly as soon as he'd answered her knock, "and we're close to losing a few major accounts because of that. How long are you going to screw up? Please tell me this is just a one-day-only type of thing."

He wondered for a moment if he should tell her, but then it passed. "You wouldn't understand, Daimoto-sama. Believe me."

The woman shrugged. "Very well. I'm going to let you off for the remainder of the day to fix whatever is going on. Don't do this again on Monday or the board's probably going to make me fire you. Do we have an understanding?"

"Hai, Daimoto-sama. My mind will be on my work after this weekend." Knowing how bad he'd screwed up, Gohan was both relieved and surprised that he still had a job.

Her brown eyes narrowed, but his boss nodded. "Good. Make sure you keep that promise."

As he was driving home that afternoon, Gohan found himself remembering the joy he and Videl had shared in their seven years of marriage. It was enough before... why wasn't it enough now?

"Because I've seen perfection and covet it for myself," he whispered. "I don't think I can be happy with anything less from now on."

***

"Papa," Bra said immediately upon entering the room. Vegeta was doing item number five on the "Top Ten Most Un-Vegeta-Like Things" list: reading. She didn't even wait for him to place a bookmark between the pages, she was so apprehensive. "Remember a few days ago when I asked you did you think there would be more bad guys?"

"Hai," he answered as he pulled her onto his lap. Bra immediately clung to him like a limpet. "Remember when I told you that both Kakarotto and I would die to protect you?"

Making a face, she nodded. "You don't have to be so morbid about it, you know."

The ouji shook his head with a small smile. "Death is a natural part of life, Bra-chan. It comes to all things eventually."

"I know, but you don't have to talk about it making an early visit.  _Especially_  when I'm really close to freaking out." The little girl sighed. "My fear is irrational, I think, but how do I get it to go away?"

"First off, where do you get your words from? Second, when your mind realizes that you're safe, then you'll stop worrying."

Bra smiled for the first time in days. "It's the "Word of the Day" toilet paper. Makes anyone sound like a genius." She slid down to the floor and fixed him with a hard gaze for a moment. "I'm taking you at your word, Papa. If you're wrong..."

"Trust me, okay? I should have the whole "fight to win" thing down perfectly by now."

" 'kay, Papa! Ja ne!" She hugged him quickly and ran off to her room to play a game with Pan.

Bra's anxiety was starting to affect Vegeta in the very worst way. He knew that there was very little he had to fear, but that didn't stop the thoughts from invading his mind. What if the worse happened and he died? He didn't want to orphan Bra and definitely didn't want to devastate Goku. His daughter would eventually be able to handle the loss of him.... his mate would not. ' _There is too much for him to live for and the bonding withdrawal would drive him to suicide._ '

The ringing of the phone drew him out of his thoughts. "Moshi moshi."

"It didn't work, Vegeta." The anger that filled his voice nearly made the ouji cringe. 

"I didn't think it would. "Maybe" was the operative word in my previous sentence. Your hopes were too high." Vegeta then held the phone away from his sensitive ears in preparation for the shouting he knew would come.

"I'M JUST AS GOOD AS THE FOUR OF YOU, IT SHOULD HAVE WORKED!"

He sighed. "I taught you the ritual against my better judgment. There was only a slight chance the bond would have formed. If Videl had psychic powers, or she develops them somehow, it would probably work."

There was a brief pause. "Could I wish for her to have them? Would Shenron grant it?"

"I don't..." He trailed off with the knot in his stomach grew worse. "Don't use the dragonballs for  _anything_!"

"....nani?"

"We may need them for something more important than a mental power for your wife." Then he winced when he realized how bad his words sounded. He'd been thinking it inside his head, but that didn't mean his thoughts had to make an exit through his mouth.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Damn," he muttered to himself. "Now he's back to yelling again." Vegeta had no idea how to calm the young man down, so did the first thing that came to mind: he hung up on him. "Hopefully he'll wait until tomorrow to come over here."

"Hopefully  _who_  will wait until tomorrow?" Goku asked as he entered the bedroom.

Vegeta smiled innocently.... or as innocently as he could manage, anyway. "Oh, no one."

His mate smirked. "I can read your mind, you know." Then he concentrated slightly and his eyes widened. "You insulted Videl and hung up on my son?!"

"Purely accidental!" he protested. "At least, the insult was. I really  _don't_  think what he wants is important enough to use a wish for. The boy should be content with what he has."

"I know 'geta, but did you really have to make him mad then hang up on him?" Goku shook his head with a sigh. "Gohan's going to come over here yelling in the morning." He looked at Vegeta with a smile. "Unless you apologize  _now_."

The ouji snorted. "Won't matter what I do or say to him tonight. It's too late. Prepare yourself for a round of screaming and profanity because I can give just as good as I get." He reopened the book and found his place.

Goku looked upward with an frustrated expression on his face. "Why can't my family just get along?"

"The ceiling can't answer you, Kakarotto. Believing it can is probably a sign of insanity."

"Argh! Mates!"

Vegeta smiled to himself. "You gotta love us, ne?"

***

The mortal plane had changed very much in the time he'd spent locked away. Before, there had be only one strong enough to defeat him.... now there were five. Killing mass amounts of people would attract attention and then the saviors would come running. Something had to be done to prevent them from answering the death-cries of the fallen... and that something would come in the simple form of a bad dream.

Nightmares held power over people both in and out of slumber. Asleep, the assault of negativity caused your heart rate to rise, your skin to sweat, and sounds of terror to be ripped from your throat. Awake, it weighed heavily on your mind as you went about your day, continuing its worrisome work and keeping you wide-awake for sometimes days on end.

Are there monsters underneath the bed? In the closet? Is the bogeyman out to get me? These are the things a child's subconscious supplies, but an adult mind is usually not bothered by such trivial matters. The secret fears of a man or woman were often far greater emotional burdens.

And there were many to be found within the minds Chikyuu's strongest defenders.

Nightmare smiled to himself as he looked down upon the Capsule Corporation from the roof of a neighboring building. "I will, at last, have my fun."


	3. Chapter 3

Early one January morning, Goten sat at the kitchen table in his new home and came to a conclusion: he was quitting school. He'd followed the advice of Vegeta, given to him secondhand by Trunks, and chose his own path. He saw the benefit of attending college and earning a degree, but it just wasn't for him.

He worried more about his mate's reaction than his brother's. Even though he seemed to support him, Goten wasn't sure if Trunks had really meant what he'd said. How would he feel being mated to someone who didn't seem to have a future?

The light snapped on in the room, momentarily blinding the demi-Saiya-jin. "Chibi, why are you sitting here in the dark?"

"I made up my mind, Trunks," Goten said as his sight gradually returned. "I'm not going back."

It took him only a moment to figure out what he was talking about. "This was the best choice for you?"

"Hai. I think I can get by just fine without higher education." Goten looked down at the table. "I'm not all that smart, anyway."

Trunks sat down across from him, a serious expression on his face. "What makes you think that?"

He looked up with an expression of annoyance. "Don't pretend like I I have no idea what I'm talking about. We both know that it takes me longer to figure things out than it does for you."

"That shouldn't make you feel stupid, Chibi. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Besides, I have a genius IQ so, compared to me, most people look stupid."

Goten glared at him. "That goes a  _long_  way towards making me feel better. Thanks a lot, Trunks."

The lavender-haired demi-Saiya-jin (who completely missed the sarcasm) beamed. "No problem."

"Stupid, conceited people," the younger man muttered as he stomped out of the kitchen. "Since you're Vegeta's son, I shouldn't be surprised." He left his bewildered mate behind and went outside to take a walk.

How could Trunks be so insensitive? He'd known for a long time that the older demi-Saiya-jin was often unable to concern himself with other people's feelings or problems, but Goten would have never thought that he was on the list. They had a bond, something so strong it was almost unheard of, yet nothing had changed. "He still doesn't think very much of me."

Unconsciously, he found himself reaching inside his shirt to clutch the solid gold locket Trunks had given him on Christmas Day. There was a picture of the two of them inside with their arms around each other's shoulders, one that had been taken when they were kids. Both boys' clothes were just about torn to shreds from an intensive sparring match, but they were smiling brightly at the camera. Inscribed on the lid were the words "young love".

He'd cried when he saw the photo and engraving, remembering the day it had been taken. It had been when he realized that Trunks did, in fact, love him. At the time he thought it was only brotherly love, but now he knew different.

Even though he hadn't shown it before, Trunks did still love him. He could feel it in his heart. However, loving someone and enjoying their company were two very different things.

Where was all of the doubt coming from? He'd never had any second thoughts about bonding with the older demi-Saiya-jin before, but now...

"Trunks loves me," Goten whispered to himself. "He would tell me the truth if I asked him to. Would I hurt him by doing so?" Ultimately, it all came down to trust. Did he trust Trunks enough to believe that he told him the truth before? "I-I... don't." He frowned, disappointed in himself. "I could try to read his mind and see for myself, but that goes beyond mistrust into suspicion."

Even though he knew that it might damage their relationship beyond repair, his mind would never be at ease unless he was one-hundred percent sure. Sitting down upon a park bench, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

 _"What are you doing?!"_ he immediately heard Trunks ask him. Goten ignored his question and continued to probe. His mate quickly tried to strengthen his defenses by throwing up shields, but it was too late.

 _"You_ do _think I'm wasting my life! How could you lie to me twice, Trunks?"_

 _"What could I have told you? 'Goten, you're not smart enough to get a job without many years of education'?!"_  The profound hurt he felt came through the connection, overwhelming Trunks with its intensity.  _"You see? I couldn't have told you!"_

_"It hurts because of the lie, not because of what you think. I don't know how I could ever trust you again."_

The heat of Trunks' anger caused Goten to flinch slightly.  _"Oh really? Who gave you permission to go through my mind, anyway? You wouldn't have ever found out if you hadn't been trespassing. My thoughts are my own."_  In the midst of his anger, he said something he knew would hurt Goten even more.  _"I want it back."_

 _"Excuse me?"_  he asked in a shaking voice, hoping that he hadn't heard him correctly.

 _"The locket. I want it back."_  Goten saw Trunks slide the ring he'd given him from his finger and drop it upon the desk in his room. A choked sob escaped his throat before he could stop it.  _"I don't want this anymore."_

 _"Trunks..."_  He received no response; the connection was closed.

Goten dropped his head to his hands, tears flowing freely. "What have I done?"

***

"Chibi, wake up," Trunks said worriedly as he shook his mate. He'd been awakened five minutes before by a combination of heart-wrenching sobs coming from Goten's body and waves of sadness coming through the connection.

After about another full minute of soothing whispers and gentle shaking (during which Trunks was climbing the walls with distress), Goten's eyes flew open. With a flood of tears, he grabbed Trunks and buried his head into his shoulder.

"Shh, Chibi. It was just a nightmare." He softly petted his hair as his sobs slowly faded. "Everything's okay, now. Do you want to talk about it?"

Goten remembered how mistrustful he'd been of Trunks in his dream and shook his head. He didn't want his mate to think less of him.

Still able to sense his anxiety, Trunks didn't want to just drop the subject. Seeing as his mate refused to cooperate, he had no other choice. "Alright. I'm going to make us breakfast, you can come down whenever you're ready."

"Okay," he answered dully as he stared at the wall. With a lingering backward glance, Trunks left the room.

He heard someone pounding on the door as he descending the stairs. "What maniac would go over to someone's house this early in the morning?" He rolled his eyes as he opened the door. "Oh,  _this_  maniac."

Gohan glared at him, definitely not amused. "Where is your father?"

"Why?" Trunks was suspicious of the reason behind his visit. His new brother looked angrier than he'd seen him in a long time. "What did papa ever do to you?"

Laughing bitterly, he said, "You want a list?"

Trunks blocked the doorway with his body. "I'm not letting you in here when you're pissed. Who knows what destruction you'd cause!"

"Think you can stop me?" Gohan asked. "You aren't as powerful as I am, Trunks. No one is."

The demi-Saiya-jin knew this, but he wasn't one to back down from a challenge. "You haven't been training lately.... I'm sure you can't live up to that boast." He crouched down and extended his hands. Gohan did the same. "Bring it on."

"Hold it!" Goku interrupted as he came downstairs. "Trunks, let him in."

"But Tousan, look at him!"

His words made Gohan's face turned a darker red color as his anger grew. "Don't call him that! He's not your otousan!"

"Will you shut up for once?! I'm sick and tired this! You've already made your opinion  _very_  clear, Gohan. There's no need to constantly force your views on us!" Before Trunks could block or dodge,  Gohan's tightly clenched fist made painful contact with his jaw. He staggered backward from the force of the blow and tenderly touched the bruised area. "Oh, that's it."

Goku grabbed him by the arms and stopped him from lunging forward. "Stop it right now! Trunks, leave Gohan and I alone for a little while. Put some ice on your jaw."

"Alright," he mumbled as the bruise began to stiffen up. Trunks was pretty sure that he was lucky it hadn't been broken.

***

"I'm very disappointed in you, son," Goku sighed. Gohan hung his head in shame. Those were words he thought he hoped to never hear from his father. "Don't you know that my number one wish is for my family to get along without trying to kill each other?"

"I wasn't going to kill him," he said quietly. "Just bruise him a little."

"Mission accomplished," the Saiya-jin said dryly. "Look, I understand how you feel. You don't trust Vegeta, or even like him all that much. Are you afraid that he's going to hurt me some day?"

Gohan nodded. "Tousan, he was evil for more than half his life. That's pretty hard to forget."

"Anyone can change if they want to bad enough. Try to get to know him better. I promise that it's worth it." Goku fixed Gohan with a pleading look. "For me."

He gave in. "Oh, alright. I would like for us to get along as well. Just.... Can I tell him off for what he did last night?"

Grinning, Goku nodded. "I'll allow that. He needs to learn tact."

"Um, Tousan? You've been different for a while now and I was just wondering...."

"That's a question for another time," he said quickly. "Let's go surprise Vegeta."

***

Bra was building an igloo from melting snow in the front yard with Pan that afternoon when a shiver went down her spine. She immediately looked upward with an expression of concern on her face. "Did you feel that, Pan-chan?"

"Feel what?" the younger girl asked. "I just feel the wind and the cold."

"Nevermind." Frowning, she went back to her creation.... only to feel the same sensation a few minutes later. Bra's eyes scanned the surrounding area carefully as Pan continued to create, blissfully unaware of the unease her best-friend was experiencing. She could have sworn that she saw a dark spot against the light gray of the sky from the corner of her right eye but, when she turned for a better look, it was gone. Definitely something she would keep a watch on. "I'll be right back, okay? I need to tell papa something."

Her fathers were sparring in the backyard despite the several inches of snow on the ground. For a moment she just watched them go full-out and, again, marveled at how fantastic they looked, before interrupting them.

"Um, guys?" she said tentatively. Between the various battle cries and the shock wave explosions that occurred every time their auras overlapped, her voice was drowned out. Then Bra inhaled deeply and shouted at the top of her lungs. "GUYS, I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU!" Both Goku and Vegeta froze mid-motion and stared at her. "Arigatou," she said sweetly. "Papa, Tousan, I think something's out there. Something bad."

Vegeta looked at his mate who, in turn, concentrated fully on his surroundings. "I'm not getting anything. How about you, 'geta?"

"Nothing."

Dropping to the ground, Goku placed his arm around the girl. "Maybe, because you're so afraid of something bad happening, you're imagining things. Just tell yourself that there's nothing to worry about and everything will be fine."

"I am  _not_  imagining things!" she exclaimed. "There was something there! It's not my fault neither of you can feel it." Bra shuddered. "It was awful."

"Can you show us where you saw the evil?" Vegeta asked. He could almost picture the words "the evil" in bold, capital letters.

She led them around the house and pointed to a spot above a nearby apartment building. "Over there. It was like an ink stain against the sky." Of course they went to investigate the rooftop and found absolutely nothing. Bra, certain she'd seen something up there, continued to search for ten minutes more. "It's not here... I can't believe it."

Goku smiled, inwardly relieved that there hadn't been anything to find. He loved a good fight as much as the next guy, but really hated the risk that usually went along with fighting evil. People could only be resurrected so many times. "It's gone, Bra. Now you can relax again."

Looking up at him, she sighed. "I can still feel it, Tousan. Just not in any specific place. Whether you like it or not, we're going to have to fight this thing before it does something really awful."

" _We_?"

"You can't sense it, remember?" She smiled grimly. "I'm like your demi-Saiya-jin radar. Without me, finding the thing would be next to impossible." Levitating slightly above the roof, she started off back towards the Capsule Corporation. "We have to plan."

***

Brother against brother. Mate against mate. If a rift was created between the senshi, then they would be so preoccupied that none would notice the death and destruction that Nightmare would cause -- none who could stop him, anyway. The demon considered it one of his best plans and was just waiting for the right time to strike the Universe's strongest.

There were serious things troubling the mind of Vegeta-ouji, some of which even he had never seen the likes of before. How easy it would be to surface those dark thoughts and cast him into a deep pit of despair. He then would be too afraid to sleep and the deprivation would play havoc upon even a Saiya-jin's system.

How long would it take to have an effect? Days? Weeks? Months? He would wait forever, but didn't relish the thought of doing so. Eventually his opening would come; not even a Saiya-jin could resist the effects that lack of sleep would cause.

Nightmare crouched silently on the balcony outside the room the ouji and his mate shared. With his current method, he'd successfully irritated or worried or terrified three of the Universe's strongest warriors. Now if only he could cause a combination of the three within both Goku and Vegeta.

"Do you really think Bra saw something out there today?" Goku asked as he undressed for bed. "We haven't had to fight anything evil in over ten years."

Vegeta smirked at him. "This is perfect, Kakarotto. Just the thing I need to change the mundanity of my life." He could have hit himself when he realized how bad that sounded. "I also need to discover just when to keep comments like that to myself."

"Your impulsiveness is nice sometimes. This time, however, it really annoyed me." Goku fixed him with a look that caused the ouji's stomach to knot uncomfortably. "Why would the possibility of dying, or having someone that you love die, be exciting to you?" Vegeta opened his mouth and the look became even harder. "If you use that 'we're Saiya-jin' excuse, I'm going to hurt you."

"Nothing's going to kill us because we're the strongest there is! There will be no one else!" Vegeta puffed out his chest in pride. "I worked years on my fighting ability and ki level just to reach a point of security. It has not all been in vain."

Goku shook his head and slipped beneath the covers. "Vegeta, your arrogance is showing."

A pleased smirk. "I know."

The demon felt anger spark in his heart. How dare the little Saiya-jin proclaim that no one was stronger than he and his mate! "Just wait, Vegeta. You will soon meet your better. I guarantee a battle unlike any you've ever fought before."


	4. Chapter 4

' _Where is he?_ '

For days he'd been searching and worrying. What could have happened to his mate? He distinctly remembered a promise to remain by his side for the rest of his life and beyond. That the promise had been broken could only mean that....

' _IIE!_ '

He believed in the bond, he  _trusted_  in the bond. It would have told him that his mate was gone. Hell, it would have told him if he was in trouble! Yet he felt absolutely nothing and was extremely concerned because of it. Again, where was his mate? Why hadn't he come home? Didn't he still love him?

 _"I could have told you that he was going to screw you over in the end,"_  a voice whispered in his ear.  _"Never, ever trust a goodie-two-shoes. The kindness he displayed was only a ploy."_

_"You are lying to me. I've told you time and time again to leave me alone, but you never listen!"_

_"The truth hurts doesn't it? All of those things he promised during the ritual are nothing but lies; he intended to hurt you all along. Before you kill him, it would be quite enjoyable to torture him first."_

Vegeta carefully considered his words and made a decision.  _"What would you suggest?"_

 _"You're_  really _going to listen to me?!"_  The devil hadn't really planned on this ever happening. Quickly regaining his composure, he revealed the number one thing on his list. _"Go after all that he holds dear. That will always be an old favorite."_

_"It may be a favorite, but it's idiotic when it comes to Kakarotto. Have you forgotten that the reason he attained Super Saiya-jin status in the first place was because Furiza killed Kuririn?"_

The chibi frowned.  _"You have a point there. Like Gohan, he reaches new levels of power when those he vowed to protect are harmed. Torture only him, then. There is no one strong enough to stop you."_

_"He, himself, is strong enough to stop me. Do you have some sort of plan in mind, devil?"_

_"At this point, the only thing I can suggest is for you find him. You can't sense him nor can you use the bond to locate him. What's up with that?"_

Vegeta beckoned him closer as if he were going to impart a great secret. He moved his mouth so that it was only a few inches away from his ear and shouted, "THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW!"

 _"JEEZ!"_  the chibi whined as he rubbed his ear.  _"You didn't have to shout."_

_"Stop asking stupid questions, then."_

_"No problem, Vegeta. Look, you know that baka better than anyone, I would think. Where would he go on this pathetic excuse for a planet?"_

_"That lake,"_  he said after a moment.  _"It's always been pretty special to him."_

 _"Let's go!"_ The devil shouted as they both took off into the air.  _"We're gonna go kill a baka! We're gonna go kill a baka!"_

Glaring at him, Vegeta charged up a ki blast.  _"Stop the singing or else."_

 _"Yes sir,"_  he gulped.

Over the towns, cities, and forests they flew at mach speed. Several minutes later they approached the area where the Son family's small house still stood. Vegeta dropped to the ground and decided to walk the rest of the way. ' _I have to sneak up on the bastard. Wouldn't be good if he saw me coming._ '

Just through a stand of trees he saw Goku beside the clear waters of the lake. The younger Saiya-jin appeared to be staring thoughtfully into its depths. As Vegeta started to move closer, an unwanted being popped into existence.

 _"IIE, VEGETA!"_  the chibi angel shouted at the top of his lungs.  _"You can't do this! Goku didn't betray you!"_

_"Where is the connection, then? How come I can no longer feel him? Why did he leave me without a word?"_

_"I-I don't know, but hurting him isn't the answer."_

Shoving him aside, the devil glared at him.  _"Shut up and get out of our way. You were wrong about him all along, okay? Just accept that."_

He shook his head sadly.  _"Iie. If he kills him..."_

Ignoring the both of them, Vegeta marched across the sand. His entire being was focused only on one thing: extracting revenge for all the pain Goku had caused him. He had told him over and over again about the horrors of bonding withdrawal. Luckily that had only been an issue in the first few days. After that, he could no longer feel anything. ' _That is what I get for opening myself up to him. I should have known that nothing good could come from it._ '

Goku only looked up when the ouji was less than six feet away from him. With his ki suppressed so much, he could barely feel him. "Oh, hi."

The indifference caused Vegeta's right eye to twitch slightly. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"Why is it any of your business?" he asked in annoyance. "I came here after you shut me out. Everyone was right about you, Vegeta."

"Right about me?" His voice was very quiet and, now, both eyes were starting to twitch. "Right about me?" Vegeta's voice then rose nearly fifty decibels. "EVERYONE WAS RIGHT ABOUT ME? WHAT ABOUT  _YOU_ , BAKA? YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING TO THE BOND!"

He rose slowly to his feet. "What in the world makes you think that I've done something? Why would I intentionally ruin the most perfect thing I've ever experienced? Answer this question for me!"

 _"Something seriously screwy is going on here,"_  the chibi said needlessly.  _"I knew that Goku was innocent of all charges against him!"_  His words weren't heard and the devil casually knocked him into unconsciousness before he had a chance to try again.

 _"I'll be damned if I let you ruin the best experience I've had in years,"_  he muttered to the still form. _"Just wish that I had thought of this first, though."_

"So you think I have something to do with destroying the bond, eh?" Vegeta spread his arms open wide. "Come punish me for it. I'm not afraid of you."

Goku rolled his eyes instead. "That's the difference between you and I, Vegeta. You want to go around beating people up for things and I just want to stay away from them." He started to walk further down the shore. "As of this moment we're through. I don't want to see you again."

The ouji's eyes narrowed. "You should have never turned your back on me, baka. I'm not someone you dismiss." In his clenched right first, he created a ki blast. It quickly grew larger and larger in diameter until it completely engulfed his hand. By that time it was bigger than his head. Taking careful aim, Vegeta hurled the deadly sphere of energy. He expected Goku to dodge, and was very surprised when it actually made contact with the larger Saiya-jin's body.

"You make things too easy, Kakarotto," he said as he went to make sure he was truly defeated. "That was almost boring."

Shaking the cobwebs out of his head, the chibi angel sat up. His eyes opened wide when he saw the spectacle before him.  _"What have you done?! He was completely innocent, Vegeta! Some external force broke the bond between you!"_

Several steps away from the motionless body, Vegeta froze. "What are you talking about?"

 _"I tried to tell you, but this evil one stopped me from doing so until it was too late."_  Shaking his head sadly, he flew over to drop down beside Goku.  _"It was so beautiful and now it's gone forever."_

Vegeta refused to believe. "Iie, you're lying. There is no other explanation for what happened; he brought this upon himself."

The devil laughed darkly.  _"Oh, that little pansy's telling the truth alright. Even I could feel it. The baka had nothing to do with the bond's disappearance. Neither did you."_ He laughed again.  _"I finally got a chance to taste death again! Granted, it was only one guy and it happened pretty quickly, but it was better than nothing."_

The full import of his actions hit him hard. "I-I killed him."

 _"You sure did,"_  the angel sighed.  _"Are you proud of yourself, Vegeta? He loved you still."_

Sinking slowly to his knees beside the corpse, he started sightlessly at the earth. Did he just do...? "I killed him." Not in a million years did he think the devil would eventually convince him to do the unthinkable. If he had, then he would have never bonded himself to Goku in the first place. Oh, who was he fooling? He knew that was all a lie. "I  _did_  know! It had always been a possibility."

He gently rolled his former mate onto his back, hiding from sight the ki blistered and blackened skin. Placing his hand gently against Goku's cheek, he allowed the tears to fall. "There is nothing I can do to make up for this. Even if I somehow wish him back, he wouldn't want to be with me anymore." Throat constricting, he let out a sob. "How could I do this to him?!"

***

"No, no, no, no...." he whispered it over and over again like a mantra, each word gaining both intensity and volume until he was nearly shouting. The sixth time he said 'no', Goku's eyes snapped open. After casting one look over at his mate (who was obviously caught in the throes of a nightmare), he did the only thing he could think of.

He tried to draw him out of it.

 _"Vegeta, calm yourself. There's nothing to fear."_  Poking around in his subconscious, he suddenly found himself immersed in the dark images that his mate's mind was creating. He saw him beside the body of, what looked to be,.... himself?!  _"Oh, boy. This is some dream."_

"Today I have sunk lower than I ever thought was possible and betrayed the trust of someone who loved me more than anything else in the world. Kami, it's hard to find someone that special." He cleared his throat and got back on topic. "For some reason, I allowed the words of an evil creature to corrupt my soul and fill me with spite. How? That is one question I'll be asking myself forever. Another is: who broke our bond? Maybe the power of it could have saved me from this. I'm guessing it could have since someone saw fit to remove it."

_"You are not to blame, 'geta. This is just a nightmare. In the real world you would never do this under any circumstances."_

Though he could not hear the words, Vegeta still felt the warmth they conveyed. Slowly the dreamscape faded until Goku saw nothing but a gray void.

_"I will stand guard, Vegeta. You will always be safe in my arms."_

He awoke three hours later and Goku, who hardly felt the effects that one lost night of sleep caused, smiled at him. "Ohayo, 'geta. Did you have sweet dreams?"

The ouji frowned as he searched his memory. "You know, I don't remember if I did or not." His mate let out a relieved breath. "How long have you been up?"

' _I don't want to lie, but I don't want to tell him the truth either._ ' "It doesn't matter," he said finally. "I'll go downstairs and make breakfast for us as you shower, okay?"Vegeta smirked and stared at him until he blushed faintly. "I'll pour us bowls of cereal."

"Good, I'd rather not have to put out a grease fire this early in the day."

"Hey, I'm not  _that_  bad!"

"Iie, you're not." Just as Goku started to smile he added, "You're worse." He dodged the pillow that had been thrown at him and went off to the bathroom.

Goku was very happy that Vegeta had no recollection of his nightmare. Based on what he saw, he knew that it would have disturbed him greatly. Who knows what had gone on before he interfered!

He had just finished pouring cereal into two giant bowls (Cheerios for him, Frosted Flakes for Vegeta), when Goten came downstairs. His father hadn't seen much of him at all yesterday and the only thing Trunks would tell him was that "he didn't feel well". "Ohayo, son."

"Ohayo, Tousan," he said softly as he opened the refrigerator for the carton of orange juice. He yawned sleepily as he poured a glass and didn't catch himself before it overflowed onto the table. Sighing, he grabbed a dish towel. "Gomen nasai."

"Are you okay?" his father asked, very concerned over the weariness etched across his face. "Trunks said yesterday that you weren't your usual self."

His eyes opened wide with panic. "What else did he tell you?"

"Did something happen between the two of you?"

Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "No, but I dreamt that it did."

He went on to describe in detail what had occurred in his dream. By the end of his tale, tears were sliding freely down his cheeks and Goku was grim. "Bra's right, then. Something  _is_  out there."

"Nani?" Goten questioned.

"Yesterday, your sister sensed something evil. She's the only one who did." Goku shook his head. "Why does Bra have this special power? It means that when we go searching for whatever it is, she'll have to lead the way."

"How does what she sensed tie into my nightmare?"

His father listened a moment to make sure that no one else would be entering the room anytime soon. "Because Vegeta had one this morning. The emotions I felt from him terrified me, Goten. Never before had I seen a nightmare that awful, not even when I had the fever dreams the heart virus caused. I just don't think it's coincidental. Did you have one again this morning?"

"Hai. It was the same exact one."

"Then we have a problem here." Goku tapped his finger against the side of his face in thought. "Should I warn the others? Or is this something we have to handle alone?"

"What could any of them do? They haven't been much help in the last twenty years, not really. Only we can defend Chikyuu against the people who want to ruin it." Just the mere thought of someone trying to break his and Trunks' relationship made his blood boil. "Divided we fall."

"Exactly," Goku agreed. "This person must think that we're too powerful to defeat as a whole so they're trying to weaken us from the inside out. Now that we know their plan, it should have less power over us."

Goten turned tired eyes toward his father. "I'm going to have the same exact nightmare again and again until we kill who's causing it, you know, and so is papa. Eventually we're going to be too tired to help you."

"Not Vegeta, son. I'm staying awake to keep the nightmare away. Which means that  _I'm_  going to be the useless one."

"But you're the strongest and, therefore, the most important!" the demi-Saiya-jin protested. "Without you, we might as well give in!"

He was still determined to do so. "Goten, you don't know what he dreamed. If he remembers it in the morning, then all would be lost for sure. We can't be a good team if he's afraid of hurting me. If I watch over him at night, we still have a chance at winning."

"Tousan, tell me what it was about. Tell me why it could prevent him from fighting to the best of his ability. I don't understand."

"First, you have to promise not to tell anyone. When we have the meeting later, I'll think of something to say."

The young man crossed his heart. "I promise."

"In his dream, Vegeta killed me. I only saw the part where he was cursing himself, but it was enough." Goku sighed. "I know that, realistically, it would never happen, but apparently he doesn't. It's his greatest fear, I believe."

"It was mine, too," Goten said suddenly. His father looked up with an expression of complete astonishment that made him chuckle slightly. "Iie, not that Vegeta would someday kill you, but that Trunks was lying to me. After I decided to quit school, I thought he accepted it too easily. As a matter of fact,  _you_  were the same way about it. Why?"

Goku smiled at him. "Son, you're an adult and I feel that you should make your own decisions. It's not my life. Trunks probably feels the same way. Trust in what you have and you'll never go wrong."

An invisible burden was immediately lifted from his shoulders as he realized how much sense his father's words made. "Domo arigatou for telling me that, Tousan. I just didn't realize that was the reason." After that, the conversation shifted to casual chatting.

A few minutes later, everyone else had joined them at the table. Both Goku and Goten were on their third gigantic bowl of cereal and had emptied three boxes each. Vegeta was thankful that he thought to quadruple the weekly grocery order. Who knows what they'd done if there wasn't enough food to feed them!

"Bra, are you planning on doing anything special today?" Goku asked her as she finished her breakfast.

She shook her head. "Not with that whatever it is running around. It might attack me since I'm pretty defenseless."

Trunks blinked. "Am I missing something here?"

"We're being screwed with, boy," Vegeta told him, "and your sister's the only one that can sense the thing that's doing it. We eventually intend to take care of the problem, but first we need to plan. Someone go call Gohan while I talk to Kakarotto." After placing his bowl into the dishwasher, he beckoned for Goku to follow.

***

"I hope you told me the truth, Kakarotto. Trust is an essential part of any relationship." Vegeta leaned against the wall and watched sweat bead on his mate's forehead. "You didn't  _lie_  to me, did you?"

"Not in so many words..." he trailed off uncomfortably. "I really don't believe it's that important. Why bother worrying about something that happened in the past?"

Vegeta stood up straight, folded his arms across his chest, and narrowed his eyes. "On the edge of my memory, I remember that little chibi devil saying something to me. I also remember your unmoving body on the ground. Did what I think happen, happen?"

Goku opened his mouth and then realized that the older Saiya-jin would probably know he was lying. ' _Trust rears its ugly head... again._ ' "You had a bad dream this morning and I sent it away."

"You sent it away?" he asked incredulously. "How the hell did you do that?"

"I just entered your mind and calmed you down," he shrugged. "No big deal."

Shaking his head, the ouji placed his hands on his mate's arms. "Kakarotto, you don't understand. It shouldn't be possible for us to directly affect anything in each other's mind. View them, hai. Alter them, iie."

"Why could I, then? Do you know?"

He thought for a moment. "The moon has always been special to our people. It fuels our transformation, it initiates our mating cycle, and it strengthens our bonds."

"Come again?"

"We bonded beneath a full moon, remember? It wasn't usually done what way on Vegeta-sei because, in addition to the fact that Saiya-jin didn't bond often, most were too horny to even consider something as elaborate as a ritual." He smirked very slightly. "We definitely wore each other out afterward. Surprised we were even able to endure it at all."

"Ah..." Goku always blushed when he remembered that night. "What else do we get as a bonus for bonding beneath a full moon?"

"I have no idea, but it'll be pretty interesting to find out." Vegeta's face softened into a smile. "We have the rest of our lives together, remember? I expect that to be a long time. Together, we are an unstoppable force."

"Without a doubt," Goku responded as he leaned down to receive a kiss. At first, the height difference was just plain annoying, but they eventually learned to deal with it accordingly. Nothing would prevent either Saiya-jin from receiving such a wonderful display of affection.

Before rejoining everyone, Vegeta just had to ask one more question. "Did I murder you in my nightmare?"

A brief hesitation. "Hai, but I know you would never do that in the real world. You're afraid of it happening, aren't you?"

"I have an immense reputation for killing people for stupid reasons," he said with just a touch of sardonic humor.

"None of them were as close to you as I am. Look, 'geta, I trust you with my heart, my soul,  _and_  my life." Goku smiled slightly. "You're just gonna have to get used to that."

"Gohan's here!" Trunks called from the living room. "Let's get this over with so we can go find that thing!"

They both sobered up quickly at the mention of the evil they would soon have to fight. "No matter what happens, remember that I'll always love you," Goku said seriously.

With one last tender kiss, they went to start the meeting.

***

Large amounts of people packed into a small area tended to excite Nightmare greatly. With hardly any effort, thousands of people could die in one fell swoop. Though it lacked the challenge of killing people in, say, a forest, it provided a quick fix for when the craving was at its worst.

The initial surprise and abject terror were rushes as well. Oh, how Mister Average screamed when he ripped his throat out.

Just how long would it take the warriors to notice? The demon knew that it was only a matter of time, but hoped it wasn't  _too_  soon. He needed just a little more time in the world of fear his actions created. Who knew that ningen would be so much fun to play with?

"For a change of pace, I'll allow you thirty seconds to run," he announced to a group of people in the street. The city he'd chosen had boasted a permanent population of 900,000 and an even greater one when you added in the daily commuters. By the time he was through, that number would be one-hundred at best. Hey, he had to allow for the few people that somehow found a way to escape. "If you do not find a good hiding place within that time, I will murder you just as I've done your fellow citizens." He raised his clawed hands and made a shooing motion with them. No one moved an inch. "Oh, come on! You're ruining the game for me!" He caught himself pouting slightly and that angered him. Nightmare gathered his energy and lunged at them with a roar. "RUN, YOU MORONS!"

The entire group of people (all twenty or so of them) took off in the opposite direction as fast as they could. The demon simply watched for a moment before starting off after them. To the few that looked backward in surprise he said, "Did you really believe I would keep my word? How naïve can you get?!"

When the bloodlust was satiated (and all the people he cared to find were lifeless), Nightmare surveyed the damage he'd done. Over a hundred-thousand dead ningen, billions of dollars in property damages.... and all of it confined within that city alone. There would be no warnings for the others. Soon, he would get to experience the sweet taste of shock and horror once again.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, let me get this straight," Gohan said slowly. "There's something out there that wants to do us serious harm, and the only one who can sense it is Bra?" He shook his head. "I find the credibility of an eight-year-old lacking."

She glared at him. "What does my age have to do with anything? I felt what I felt."

"We have more proof than just her word, son." Goku glanced down briefly, unsure of what to tell him. After a moment, he was encouraged by the nods of both Goten and Vegeta. "For the past few nights, your brother has been having the same nightmare over and over again. When you think about this as an individual thing, it's not really that serious. Then you factor in that Vegeta has also been having a reoccurring nightmare and we have a potentially grave situation."

"Is there room to factor me in?" Gohan asked quietly. "I started having a dream on Friday and every night since then. Videl hasn't noticed anything strange yet, but it's only a matter of time. What can I tell her?"

Vegeta gave him a 'that's a stupid question' look. "How about the truth? What is the dream about?"

"We're outside one night and I talk her into trying the bonding ritual. It's a complete failure, of course, and Videl always tells me that she wants a divorce." He tried to shrug nonchalantly, but the gesture was too stiff. "That's what forced me to try it for real; I wanted to prove my mind wrong. We all know how  _that_  turned out."

Goten stared at Trunks silently for a moment before relating his nightmare. He ended with, "It doesn't scare me as much as it did before. Tousan gave me something to think about this morning."

"Oh, Chibi," the lavender-haired young man sighed. "I wouldn't lie to you about anything. Besides, I don't really think that I can."

"What do you mean? You've lied to people hundreds of times."

Trunks gave him a look that clearly meant, 'shut up, Goten'. "I think, as soon as I lie, you would know it through the connection. If, for example, I said that the sky was orange, you would know that it wasn't true."

"I would know anyway, bond or not." Goten rolled his eyes. "You've got to do a whole lot better than that."

"Okay...." He thought for a moment. "Let's say that the fridge is almost empty and papa didn't plan on going grocery shopping for another two days. There are two pizzas in the freezer and I found them first. But then you come into the kitchen extremely hungry, as usual. I would give both of them to you."

Goku had an 'how sweet!' look on his face (because, to him, giving away food was the ultimate sacrifice) until Goten shook his head. "No, you wouldn't. Those pizzas would be in your stomach so fast, I would barely get to smell them when you took them out of the oven."

"Pardon the interruption, but what the hell does this have to do with anything?" Gohan asked. Any mention of the bond tended to make him upset. "We're here because we need to stop this new enemy, not because we want to know the benefits of the bond." He held up his hand when Goten opened his mouth to retort. "Moving on. Vegeta, what was your dream about? It may be important to solving this problem."

"Why would it be?" Trunks whispered to Goten so softly that a normal ningen would not be able to hear a sound. "Yours wasn't and neither was his. I think he's just nosy."

"He shouldn't be. Not about this."

"You know about-" He was cut off when his father began to speak.

Vegeta stared steadily across the table at his stepson. "I know that you're trying to find reasons to hate me despite the fact that Kakarotto wants us to all get along. My nightmare might just be the extra push you need."

" 'geta, you don't have to tell him. The content of the dream is irrelevant."

"Iie, it's alright." His dark eyes took on a touch of sadness that caused Goku to wince. "I murdered him, Gohan. If there's anything I fear in this world, it's that I'll lose control of myself and harm those closest to me. Apparently we all had nightmares about what we were worried about the most. In addition to the sleep we would have lost by forcing ourselves to stay awake in fear of the dream, our relationships would have been strained to the point of breaking. I've got to hand it to him; it's an good plan."

"Hai, but not quite good enough." His mate took charge knowing that they would have expected him to. "When we're able to find him, I want us to team up. Trunks and Goten, you're together. We may need Gotenks. I'm with Vegeta, of course, and Gohan does pretty well on his own. Since Bra has to lead us there, and because you really dislike getting involved, I'm putting you in charge of protecting her." He received nods of assent. "Bra-chan, can you take us to him?"

She shook her head. "I feel him, but I don't know exactly where he is. Sometimes his ki shoots up and then it's easy for me to sense him."

"Why does it do that?" Trunks asked. "I can think of a few reasons, but I hope I'm wrong."

"Strong emotions have a way of causing your ki to rise," Gohan explained. "Happiness, sadness, grief, anger, etc. Who knows what it was for him."

At the very same time, Bra and Goku frowned at looked upward toward the ceiling. "Is it the new enemy?" Goten asked. "What happened?"

"I felt a ki spike," the little girl told them. "Can you feel him now, Tousan?"

"Iie, I felt a sudden absence of ki. The ningen on this planet are like background noise to me, but now there's considerably less of it. He must have decimated the population of a pretty large city." His fists clenched automatically, as they always did when a large amount of people lost their lives unnecessarily. "C'mon, let's go."

***

Bra led them to the other side of the world. A few miles away from the city they could see the smoke from many fires rising upward to form a dense gray cloud in the sky. Above it all, balanced perfectly on the top of a flag pole, they saw a form shaping dark energy in its hands. The demon didn't notice the group until they were nearly upon him.

He turned and regarded them with disdain. "So you're what passes for guardians in this world? I must admit that you're not much to look at."

"Looks mean nothing," Vegeta crossed his arms and glared at the beast. "Who are you and why are you here killing people we're just going to have to wish back?"

"I am Nightmare, a chaos demon. As such a creature, it is my job to create fear and disorder." He surveyed the ruined city below him. "I haven't even worked my way up to your largest cities, but here you are. You're much faster than the people of Remnar. It took them months to realize that something was going on." He lightly tapped his chin with one sharp claw. "Hmm, maybe I should blame myself for that. I was a young demon, you see. Quite inexperienced. But I've had a long, long time to plan so nothing will defeat me  _this_  time." He grinned widely at them, wicked teeth glistening in the pale sunlight that shone through the haze. "You're welcome to try, however. I do so love a challenge."

"Don't mind if I do." With little effort, Vegeta launched himself at Nightmare and engaged him in combat. Goku just shook his head and joined him, leaving his three sons to gauge the demon's strengths and weaknesses.

Not two minutes into the fight, Gohan grabbed Bra and physically hauled her down to the ground. "If you see someone that needs help go ahead, but don't do anything stupid. Your father would murder me if something happened to you."

"He's now your father too, you know," she told him, eyebrows drawn together in a frown. "Why won't you admit it?"

"Now isn't the time to talk about this."

"When will it be?"

Silently they stared at each other until Gohan sighed and turned his head back toward the battle. "I don't have time for this now, Bra. There's evil to vanquish."

She called after him before the distance became too great. "Things will never get better if you don't let them, Gohan! Putting it off will only make it worse!" There was no sign that he'd heard her so the child could only hope.

As she settled down to watch the battle, she heard a soft mewl from somewhere nearby. Thinking that he, she, or it was in serious need of help, Bra quickly followed the sound to its source. "Oh, poor kitty," she said as she pulled away the debris covering the shaking gray and black tiger-striped kitten. "Did the bad demon scare you?" She received a meow in response and a lick on the cheek with a warm, rough tongue. She sat down against the side of a building and the small animal curled into her lap and began to purr. "I'll take you home and care for you as soon as they beat Nightmare." Based on the way the current battle was going, she had a feeling that it was going to be a very long time.

***

_"This isn't working, 'geta. Time for Plan B."_

_"And what, pray tell, is Plan B?"_  he asked as he countered a slash from the demon's sharp claws.

 _"We fall back for now and come up with a good strategy."_  Even before he told him, he knew that it wasn't going to be well-received.  _"Trying to overpower him with brute force wasn't the best way to go."_

_"Running can be construed as fear! I am not a coward, Kakarotto!"_

_"Nor are you a fool. Besides, we aren't running. Not really. Let's call this a momentary pause in the fighting."_

"What are they doing up there?" Trunks asked as he shielded his eyes to reduce the glare from the sun.

"I think Nightmare is wondering the same exact thing." Goten watched the demon cast a puzzled look towards the two Saiya-jin he was supposed to be engaging in battle. They'd both stopped and was staring at each other intently. Abruptly, Goku and Vegeta dropped to the ground and turned their backs to their enemy. "What's going on....?"

Vegeta glared at his lifemate. "There's been a slight change."

"What he means to say is that we're going to come up with a plan. When you fight nearly full-out for ten minutes straight, and aren't damaging the enemy, something's wrong."

Trunks covered his mouth to muffle the chuckles, but his eyes displayed his mirth. "You actually got papa to agree to a plan! It's a miracle!"

"Excuse me," Nightmare interrupted politely. "Could you let me know what's going on? If it's not very much trouble, that is."

Goku was the one to respond. "Oh, sure. We're coming up with a way to kill you. It'll just take a moment."

A low, haunting laugh echoed throughout the surrounding area. "You're only wasting your time and mine! I'm immortal, people. I  _can't_  be killed! In fact, the only reason I stopped before was because a priestess sealed me away." He smirked at him. "I doubt any of you on this planet possess that power."

Goten sighed. "He thinks right. None of us are in a deity's favor." His eyes suddenly lit up. "Except for..."

"Please don't make me deal with them again!" Gohan remembered clearly how long it took the Kaioshin of the Sword to release his hidden powers... especially since he had goofed off in the process. "That man is insane."

His brother raised his eyebrows at his outburst. "Who said I was talking about you? Tousan's the one they usually ask to save things, Gohan." The young man blushed and inwardly Goten was pleased that he'd embarrassed him.

The large Saiya-jin thought for a minute. "You three distract him while I go speak with Kaio-sama, okay? I don't want him going off to kill more people while I'm gone. Fuse if you think you need to."

"Hai, Tousan," his sons all said in unison. Gohan glared at Trunks, who only ignored him.

Goku brought Vegeta aside. "I know that this goes against everything you are, 'geta, but please don't get involved. If what he said is true, then you would only be wasting energy. If the demon killed you..." He closed his eyes as tears threatened to escape at the mere thought.

"Take me with you," the ouji said. "It's the only way we can be sure. He only has to piss me off, Kakarotto." He smirked slightly. "That's a very easy thing to do."

"Alright, grab on." He touched two fingers to his forehead. "Don't let me down, boys." He received a trio of nods in response and, a few moments later, he vanished.

Trunks nodded to Goten. "Let's do it, Chibi."

They got into position and went through the movements. "FU-SION HA!"

***

"Konnichi-wa, Kaio-sama!" Goku called out as he and Vegeta materialized on the spiritual plane. The round blue man was no where to be seen.

"Don't tell me we have to go look for him," the ouji grumbled. "There isn't time for that!" He turned around and tripped over Kaio-sama who was fast asleep in a lounge chair (as evidenced by the large snot bubble coming from his nose). Only Goku's hand grabbing his shirt kept him from falling.

He grinned. "I knew he was around here somewhere."

More than a little annoyed, Vegeta shook the kaio none too gently. He snorted, rolled over onto his back, and began to snore very loudly. Goku's hands flew to his mouth to cover his snickers while his mate frowned. "Do something, Kakarotto."

So Goku kneeled down beside the sleeping kaio and leaned very close to his ear. Taking a deep breath, he shouted, "WAKE UP, KAIO-SAMA! WE HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT!"

"AUGH!" he screamed in response as he sat straight up. The bubble popped as he turned to regard his one-time pupil. "Ah, Goku. Nice to see you again. Next time, though, could you please NOT WAKE ME UP LIKE THAT?!"

"Gomen nasai, Kaio-sama," he said, one hand automatically moving to the back of his head in the typical Son gesture of embarrassment. "Have you noticed what's been happening on Chikyuu lately?"

He scratched his head and yawned. "Should I have? Everything's been pretty quiet... no one's said a word."

Goku and Vegeta exchanged looks. "He can hide himself from the kaios. That can't be good."

"Why can Bra sense him? I've never noticed anything very special about her until now."

"Rewind just a tiny little bit," Kaio-sama commanded. "Who are you talking about? What's going on?!"

The larger Saiya-jin began to pace uncharacteristically. "There's a demon killing the people on Chikyuu. We didn't notice until Bra did -- she's the only one who can sense him."

"Hmm, that's new. Closest thing to a demon that you've ever had to fight was Majin Buu."

"And Piccolo Daimou. Don't forget about him."

"Hai, but I didn't know you back then." He pushed himself with effort from his seat. "We're going to see the Dai Kaio. He may have answers." Kaio-sama gave them each a look from the corners of his eyes. "I don't think that I need to remind you to be very respectful."

"Oh, we will. Won't we, Vegeta?" Goku gave him a pointed look and the prince shrugged.

"If he doesn't anger me, I won't say anything to anger him." That said, Vegeta was ready to be done with everything. "Where does this Dai Kaio live?"

Kaio-sama frowned at his lack of respect. "Farther than you've ever been allowed to go, Vegeta." He pushed himself up from his chair and motioned to them. "Follow me."

After catching the next flight to the Dai Kaio's planetoid, they walked to the palace and requested an audience with Kaio-sama's superior. They were kept waiting for two hours (during which Goku was visited by several old friends and Kaio-sama was harassed by the still-living kaios) and were very annoyed by the time the ogre assistant informed them that the Dai Kaio would see them. Vegeta gave him a glare that threatened to make him lose control of his bodily functions and strode into the marble hallway.

"Pretentious," he muttered quietly to himself. "As if he's all talk and no action." He easily dodged the blow of reprimand that was headed for his head. "Have you LOST YOUR MIND?!" he asked Kaio-sama, his voice rising with each syllable.

"Have you lost yours? I told you to have respect! Failure to do so might result in him not giving us any information at all!"

Goku turned slightly to regard them. "I would follow his directions, 'geta. I would also not try that again, Kaio-sama. Now, can we all just keep going?"

"Of course." "Whatever." They answered in unison, silently glaring at each other. Then, without anything further, they continued on.


	6. Chapter 6

In a regal, central room of the palace sat a large throne at the end of a red velvet carpet that was edged in golden thread. Vegeta looked around with a critical eye, snorting at the unnecessary grandeur. It was a room to impress people, not one to defend from invading armies. The prince had to admit, though, few would want to attack the Dai Kaio in his own home. To do so was insanity.

There was one problem that complicated things: the person they came to see was missing from the room. All types of people milled around, doing all sorts of different things. Maids cleaned efficiently, assistants talked quietly, and the occasional skilled fighter passed through. The only thing missing was the man of honor.

"Oh, come on," Goku sighed. "We don't have time to waste waiting on you, Dai Kaio."

Vegeta smirked in his direction. "Patience, Kakarotto."

"You know I don't have any of that!"

A side door opened and Dai Kaio stepped through followed by Kaioshin, the highest surviving deity. Both spotted the two Saiya-jin at the same time; Dai Kaio nodding briefly and Kaioshin smiling cordially. The older man went to his throne while the other stood beside him.

"Son Goku and Vegeta-ouji, step forward," an assistant called out at his master's command. They did so, Goku kneeling and pulling Vegeta down to the ground alongside him. "What do you wish to present to our lord and master, Dai Kaio?"

The problem was explained in detail. "So, we have no idea what to do next. I haven't felt this helpless since Majin Buu."

"Hmm," he stroked his long white beard thoughtfully. "Enma contacted me a short while ago and I was informed that one of the evils from the Riger dimension had escaped his imprisonment. We're probably talking about the same demon."

"Riger dimension?" Goku asked.

"Hai," Kaioshin answered, taking over. "This plane, the 'afterlife' as you call it, exists simultaneously everywhere at every time and therefore breaks many of the ningen laws of science. If a person dies, no matter what dimensional plane they once called home, they end up here."

"Wouldn't things get crowded after a while? I mean, aren't there hundreds of different dimensions?"

A smile. "Even more than that. You have to remember that this dimension of the dead is controlled completely by myself and Dai Kaio. We weren't its creators -- the Dai Kaioshin was -- only maintenance men in a sense."

He nodded and asked, "Will you help us?"

"Actually, you should really ask 'Can you help us?' in which case the answer is no." The small purple-skinned man sighed. "Nightmare is immortal and completely invulnerable. To fight him is to waste both time and energy." He held up his hand to stop Vegeta's oncoming verbal assault. "We are immortal, but we also can be killed. Just ask Majin Buu. The Dai Kaioshin, the other three kaioshin, and many dai kaios have been slain by his dark power. Their energy has been woven into the fabric of time instead of returning here. We also cannot interfere with a mortal problem. He poses no immediate threat to us so, therefore, it isn't any of our affair."

" 'It isn't any of our affair'." Vegeta shook his head slowly at their refusal to assist, curbing his rage just barely. "You're fucking deities! Your entire purpose is to take care of the mortals and make sure things run like they should! Or do you only care for them when they're dead? In that case, you'll be receiving a flood of souls very soon."

Goku disliked the response, but could understand the reasons behind it. "Is there a way we can stop Nightmare without having to kill him?"

"Priestess K'sorde used magic," the Dai Kaio informed them. "She sealed him away in Hell. If you could find some way to do that, we'll make sure that he doesn't ever get free again."

"Is she here?"

"Iie. Her race is immortal just as we are. Natural death does not touch them. It's against the rules to cross dimensions, Goku. I'm sorry."

His face was impassive as he considered how many people were going to lose their lives before the entire ordeal was over. "This time, sorry isn't good enough." Without another word, he grabbed Vegeta's arm and they teleported back to Chikyuu.

***

Bra winced every time Gotenks was pummeled by a seemingly bored Nightmare, and covered her eyes when he was knocked out of the sky to form a deep crater in the earth. She knew that no one would be able to kill him and the knowledge came from somewhere deep inside. One would usually be terrified at the thought, but Bra knew no fear. There was always a way to defeat evil and the Z-senshi had dealt with immortal beings before.

The two young men split apart as the fusion wore off and, this time, neither had enough energy to fuse again. Trunks and Goten exchanged weary looks and passed out from exhaustion at nearly the same time. Gohan, who had wanted to stay out of the battle entirely, sighed and prepared to attack.

"I am tired of this farce," he informed the only conscious fighter in the immediate area. "This city is destroyed and its inhabitants are dead. There's nothing holding me here." Behind him, the air rended and separated so that the abyssal darkness of the space between dimensions peeked through. "Catch me again... if you can."

Just as he stepped through the portal, Goku and Vegeta appeared beside Gohan. The three of them could only helplessly watch as Nightmare headed off to ruthlessly murder more unsuspecting people.

"So, what are we going to do?" Gohan asked needlessly. He could see for himself that neither his father or Vegeta had no plan whatsoever.

Goku dropped to the ground and they followed. "What  _can_  we do? Nothing we've done so far has harmed him and the deities refuse to help us."

Vegeta spoke suddenly, his hopeful-sounding words surprising the young man. "None of us possess magical ability and we cannot ask the one who originally defeated the demon for help. Yet we have a solution. If only we could find some way to make it possible."

"It's something, Papa," Bra said as she approached them. She held up the kitten who eyed Vegeta and mewed. "I found him over there. Can I keep him?"

"I don't know about that..." he stared at the feline who stared right back. Bra moved closer and brought the kitten a few inches from his face. With a slight movement, a small pink tongue took a slightly rough swipe across his nose. Vegeta jumped, completely startled. "How can something that tiny survive?"

"The same way everyone and everything survives, Papa. By perseverance." She kissed the top of his striped head. "Can I keep Tigger?"

An eyebrow rose. "You named it after that goofy tiger on Winnie the Pooh?" He found himself smiling slightly at the cute picture she and the kitten were making and quickly coughed to cover it up. "I guess so."

After waiting for Goten and Trunks to wake up, they went back to the Capsule Corporation to figure out a way to seal Nightmare away in Hell once more. The other Z-senshi were called but, being well into middle age, none of them could really help with the battle. Only Piccolo was physically able to endure a long conflict.

"Why do these things always happen to  _us_?" Kuririn asked no one in particular. "It's like we're being conspired against."

"What do you care? We're the ones who're probably going to get killed trying to save all the ningen on this damn mudball." Vegeta grumbled and began to channel surf. They had all taken seats in the living room, using every available surface; the young ones sat on the floor. He stopped on a news report in a language that he didn't understand, but it was obviously about Nightmare.

Piccolo began translating as a female reporter spoke into a microphone from the helicopter that flew above the rubble that had once been a city. She read from a sheet of paper, her eyes tired and grief-stricken. " 'The beast first attacked a few hours ago for reasons that are still unknown to us. He merely walked through our neighborhood and casually left havoc and destruction in his wake. There were no warnings, no demands; he only grinned coldly as he killed my family, my friends, my neighbors, and people that I had seen daily on my way to work. While it had been mainly adults who had been caught in the living darkness he sent to engulf the panicked masses, many children had been killed as well. He had no preference between young and old, male and female, or any race. It seemed that anything living was fair game.' " The young woman had tears in her eyes as she looked up at the camera. " 'This was written by one of the few survivors who managed to escape the unknown murderer. So far, we have reports that twenty people made it out alive. This number is reported to be out of a grand total of one-million. Death tolls this high have not been seen for, at least, twelve years, since the time Majin Buu completely decimated the population of Chikyuu. Is there someone out there who can save us? Are the brave warriors that fought Cell and Buu still able to defend our planet?' "

Vegeta pressed the power button and the screen went dark. "I find myself feeling uncharacteristically sympathetic."

"I think developing a conscience may be bad for you," Gohan informed him matter-of-factly before rising and leaving the room. There was an awkward moment of silence and then everyone started speaking in unison in an attempt to dispel it. Giving up on his son, Goku sorted through his memories in an attempt to find someone other than Garlic Junior, Bibidi, and Babidi who could cast spells. After all, the former was trapped in his own realm of the dead and the latter two were in Hell.

Bra looked up from where she was playing with Tigger on the carpet beside Pan with a strange look on her face. "I-I don't feel so good." She clutched at her head; it felt as if it would burst from the intense pounding within. Her vision became blurry and she blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear her eyes. "Is Nightmare messing with me?"

Goku gently lifted her and laid her out on the couch. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand and discovered that it was surprisingly cool. "I don't know. What do you think, 'geta?" He received no response. " 'geta?" He turned to look at his lifemate and made a soft sound of concern.

All of the color had faded from his face, leaving it bloodless and pale and his eyes were just a touch wider than usual. Fine tremors shook his body, so slight that they weren't recognizable by anyone without Saiya-jin or Namek-jin vision. Bra reached out with her hand and touched her father. "Papa? Are you alright?" The fear in his eyes was starting to worry her.

"You can't die," he whispered as he moved closer to his little girl. "I won't let it happen."

"I won't... die." Her voice had completely vanished by the last word and her eyes closed. For one long moment everyone was struck with fear, but then Bra's chest began to slowly move up and down. There was a collective exhalation of relief.

Goku lightly tapped her cheeks. There was no movement other than what came naturally from respiration. "She's unconscious, but not asleep."

Just as his heart rate had started to calm, it picked back up again at his lifemate's words. Vegeta stroked his daughter's hair, uncaring of the other people in the room. "Is she in a coma?"

"I think so." He stared at her motionless form from where he crouched beside the couch. "I wonder what's going on inside of her mind."

***

She quietly walked up the deserted street and paused to regard the slightly imposing temple. It was taller than the Lord of the City's three-story house and made of white marble that seemed to radiate coldness. The roof of the temple sloped gently upward and held a small, square tower in its center. The tower itself tapered to a point.

The young woman had been a follower of Etha for over four years, two of which had been spent in training. Yet, no one could have ever prepared her for what was to come.

It was still a mystery how the demon came to inhabit their gentle planet. Had he been drawn there because of their innocence in all things related to strife? Or had he been summoned inadvertently by an amateur wizard's bumbling attempt at sorcery? No matter the explanation, he posed a real threat and would have to be eradicated to preserve their peaceful way of life.

"Is there a prayer room free, Albin?" she asked one the temple guides on duty. There were actually eight people total who provided information about their work and gave tours of the rooms accessible by the public.

Albin was an older man who'd never married or had children, instead deciding to dedicate his entire life to serving his goddess. He looked up from his tightly-clasped hands and nodded. "There are a few remaining just off the eastern hall. These are troubled times, K'sorde."

She nodded in agreement. "This is when we need faith the most. Albin, I intend to do what the others could not."

"Good luck and Etha be with you."

"And with you, as well."

The lobby of the temple was a large, empty space that held little besides chairs for the guides, a table for donations, and a fountain in the center. Mosaic tile in grays and dark blues covered the floor in a pattern so complex that, if viewed from above, would resemble the symbol of the Order.

K'sorde made her way quickly down the long eastern hallway, her sandals making no sound on the highly polished marble floor. After passing four rooms whose doors were shut to indicate occupancy, she came across one that was vacant.

Prayer rooms were little more than small spaces where a devotee could worship in private. On the floor lay a plain pillow for kneeling while a pitcher full of water and a clean glass sat on a small table by the door. She made herself as comfortable as possible on the floor and descended into the trance she found necessary when dealing with a deity.

' _Etha, mother of all, please appear before me and grant me the power I so desperately seek. I know you must be aware of what is happening to my brothers and sisters in the northern hemisphere and, so far, no one has been able to stop it. If this senseless murdering continues then there will be no one left._ '

In her mind, the figure of an old woman appeared before her. Her spine was bowed with age and her wrinkled face was gentle. K'sorde immediately knew that this was the form Etha chose to present herself as. ' _Many people have prayed to me for the power to defeat the demon called Nightmare, but I have not given it to any. Why do you think I will bestow such a gift upon you?_ '

' _I am but a humble priestess, no better or worse than any of your other followers. I could tell you that I would try my best to stop him, but many have probably already used those very same words. Great Mother, you have to agree with me that_ something _must be done. We cannot go on living this way._ '

' _No, my child, we cannot._ ' K'sorde felt a tingling warmth engulf her entire body. It grew in intensity until she felt that she could bear no more and then vanished. ' _I have given you what you so desperately sought and will try to protect you as much as I can during your confrontation. Do not disappoint me, Priestess K'sorde._ '

Crystalline tears trickled down her cheeks unnoticed. ' _Thank you, Great Mother. I will not fail you._ '

Slowly she emerged from the trance feeling calm and in complete control of the situation. She knew that the composure was false, but as long as it aided her she could care less. Drinking a glass of cool water, she wondered whether or not she should wait for Nightmare and eventually came to the conclusion that it was best. No one knew where the demon was in-between the scout reports and she could think of no way to find out.

"It's all up to me," she whispered, her voice filling the formerly silent room. "The future of the world is in my hands." The admission only served to make her feel afraid. So much responsibility... K'sorde wasn't one-hundred percent sure that she could handle it.

Then, she thought of Goddess Etha and her heartbeat calmed. If the Great Mother herself considered her an excellent candidate there was no reason for her to believe otherwise.

Three days after Etha blessed her, K'sorde heard from the city guard that the demon was heading in the direction of Lemnos. In her cell, she hastily prepared for the inevitable, conversing with Etha as she readied herself. As she turned to leave the room, she noticed a staff leaning against the wall. It was taller than she was and made of sturdy wood that would not flex between her hands. Atop the staff was a vertical star with two rings on both sides, connected by a strong golden wire that arched over the top. She smiled at the artifact and grasped it firmly in her hands. Only the truly blessed possessed star staves.

There was a light knock on the door before it opened to admit Albin. "K'sorde?"

"Yes?" she replied.

Briefly he looked down at the Etha Medallion clasped tightly in his hands as if trying to draw courage from it. "He is here."


	7. Chapter 7

For a while it had seemed as if she were reading a very good book. Bra had experienced times when she'd been so caught up in a novel that it was as if she were the person in the story. Things were done and words were said that she had absolutely no control over.

But, there was one major difference: she remembered seeing one of the main characters in real life.

Suddenly, it was no longer fiction but stark reality. She was seeing something through the eyes of another living, breathing being; a memory. "What's going on?" she whispered, or at least tried to. No sounds would form other than those the person whose body she was currently inhabiting chose to speak.

She saw the entire battle from start to finish, and saw in detail what they'd already known. The demon had been sealed away by a single devout follower borrowing power from her goddess. Unfortunately, she knew that Dende didn't have that kind of ability to give.

"These are my memories, Bra. This is how I defeated Nightmare on my planet." Everything was whisked away until only featureless darkness remained and the priestess' white robe shone in bright contrast against it. It was as if she radiated light. "I believe I can help you despite what your gods say."

"Really? We have a chance, then?" Bra slowly smiled. "At first, it was like tousan and papa could do anything. They were the heroes and no bad guy stood a chance against them. Then I saw him defeat them and I knew that it wouldn't be as easy as I thought."

The priestess smiled as well. "Anything is possible as long as there is hope. You know, Bra, you're very similar to the way I was as a child. Intelligent. Sophisticated. Inquisitive. Helpful. Kind. I see deep kinship between the two of us and that helped me to make the decision to aid your people." She sat down and patted the space beside her invitingly. Bra accepted.

"After sending Nightmare away, my people lived peacefully for thousands of years. We rebuilt what had been destroyed and regained what had been lost. Then, Etha came to me and said that the demon had escaped from his imprisonment. I admit, after I discovered that he wasn't in our dimension, I was relieved." K'sorde looked ashamed of herself. "I apologize for that. My negativity could have very well cost you, and those you love, your lives. Things often work in strange ways."

Bra waved away her apology. "Your people were hurt by him, it's only natural that you felt that way."

"I see that my estimation of you was very correct," she smiled. "After a short while, I went in search of a mage who could forge a connection between my dimension and yours. It isn't a very easy thing to do and Meilyn wasn't sure that it would work at first, but here I am. My body is actually rooted very firmly to the soil of Remnar while my mind is free to wander."

"How will you help us?"

She sighed. "This is where things become a little... troublesome. I am unable to help you bind him at the moment because your gods discovered and informed me that I could not interfere until the situation was dire. Unfortunately, to them, things can be still salvaged without my help."

Shocked beyond belief, she merely stared at the priestess for a moment. "They really told you that?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Many things come to mind in response to that, but none of them are very nice." K'sorde laughed and Bra soon joined in.

Wiping a few escaped tears from her eyes, the priestess said, "I  _will_  help, Bra, but not until an undetermined period in the future."

"I understand. Can you send me back, or wake me up, or do whatever it is you have to do so that I'm out of this place? Papa must be having a heart-attack by now."

"He  _has_  been more than a little worried about you. They all have." The robe-garbed form of K'sorde began fading and with it went the sound of her voice. "Just when you think things are hopeless, I will be there."

***

The sun was rising when Bra began to stir. Her head was still pillowed on her father's lap, but no one else was in the room save a deeply sleeping Goku (who was snoring away in a recliner). Everyone else had either gone home to bed or had gone in search of the dragonballs. Her eyes opened and she looked around as much as she could without waking her father. Vegeta slept very lightly, unfortunately, and had started on the rise to wakefulness the moment she first moved.

"Papa," she whispered when he opened his eyes to look at her. They were slightly red-rimmed as if he'd been crying. That was something she'd never bore witness to and hoped that she never had the chance. The mere thought of her strong father crying did weird things to her mind. "Don't be sad. I'm okay."

Vegeta didn't say a word, only gathered her in his arms and hugged her tightly. Bra's eyes widened in absolute shock. They sat there silently for several moments, the Saiya-jin, apparently, regaining his composure. "Bra-chan, I love you. I don't say that nearly as often as I should."

"Maybe I should faint like that more often, then!" she joked, but her grin faded when the serious look on his face didn't change. "You don't need to tell me every day, Papa. I know just by the way you treat me. Now," she rubbed her stomach as she stretched, "how about some breakfast?"

That was when Goku decided to wake up. He yawned hugely and asked, "Did someone mention breakfast?"

"How predictable," Vegeta said with a smirk. Bra started to giggle as she climbed off the couch. She would never get tired of hearing either of them say things like that.

"It's a good question because I'm-"

"We know, we know; you're hungry." This was stated in unison. "When aren't you?"

Grinning, Goku asked, "Have you two been practicing? It's perfect." He scratched himself in places that were vaguely indecent and blushed when he realized what he was doing in front of his step-daughter. "Um, I'm going to go take a shower. Y'know, in the... shower place."

"Bathroom," Bra supplied.

"Hai, there." He blushed again, this time at being flustered, and disappeared from the room.

Breakfast was ready by the time he returned, his face once again a normal color. Bra filled Tigger's food dish and took her usual seat across from Trunks and Goten. "Ohayo, Niichans." Her only response was a duo of tired yawns. She smiled at them sweetly. "Up late last night?"

"Cute, Bra," Trunks answered with a frown. "Real cute."

"Arigatou!"

Vegeta wasn't paying the least bit of attention to the morning banter; he was trying to come up with a plan. Nightmare was both immortal and invulnerable and he'd never fought an enemy like that before. Goku, Gohan, Kuririn, and Piccolo had, a long time ago, but Gohan was the true hero of both battles.

Garlic Junior had wished for immortality with Kami's dragonballs and it made him impossible to kill as well. The only thing that could stop his evil plans was to trap him within his own realm of the dead, an act Gohan performed. He hadn't opened the gateway, merely used it as a tool to save the world.

Who could open a gateway for them? Who had the power to bend the very fabric of time and space itself to their will? "We need a plan," he said aloud, his voice cutting into two different conversations. The four of them fell silent in contemplation.

"I have a suggestion that none of you will like," Bra said. "You want to know what I saw? K'sorde came to me after I watched the battle between her and Nightmare and told me that she would help us." She paused to gauge their reactions and sighed a little at the hope she found there. It would make telling them the next part very difficult. "Unfortunately, the kaios won't let her until it's almost too late."

"That's not so bad," Goku said slowly. "When will things be bad enough?"

Shrugging, she answered, "We have to stall, Tousan. I don't know for how long."

He frowned at the tablecloth. "It's possible to delay him for a day, but any more than that... What did they do when I was coming to help, 'geta?"

For a moment, he was incredibly confused, but the memory of his very first battle on Chikyuu came to him. "After I figured that they were telling the truth, we just waited out on the battlefield. The promise of a strong warrior worked with me, with Cell, and with Majin Buu. I doubt that it will work with Nightmare. The only thing he seems to want is death."

"Okay, then. It's time to talk to Dende."

***

He was waiting for them when they arrived although he didn't budge from he spot where he stood observing Chikyuu. Before anyone could ask, he began to speak about the new enemy.

"I had a brief thought earlier this morning. We had a plan long ago to trap Majin Buu in the Room of Space and Time so that he could never get free. It didn't work for Buu, but I had hope that it would work for Nightmare." Dende turned to look at them, a sad expression on his face. "Do you know how he entered this world?"

"Kaioshin didn't tell us that," Goku answered.

"He opened a gateway between Hell and our dimension then crossed over. The Room would not be able to hold him for very long." He turned back to the slowly spinning planet beneath him, the white swirls of clouds over masses of green and brown surrounded by blue blurred as his eyes filled with tears. He felt so useless and unfit to be Kami. "I don't know what to do," he whispered almost without sound. They all heard him anyway.

Vegeta immediately began to comment in a way similar to how he spoke to the other deities and Goku covered his mouth with his hand. "Do you know anything that can help us, Dende?" he asked. "We need to keep him busy for a while."

"How long of a while?"

Bra answered after thinking for a moment. "About two or three days. We need to convince Kaioshin to let K'sorde help us."

He added more information that just might be able to help. "When Nightmare kills people, he doesn't do it outright. The demon takes his time and turns each death into a game."

An idea formed inside Goku's mind that made his eyes light up. "The world's deadliest game of tag!"

Dende blinked at him, confused. "Excuse me?"

"Hai. Somehow I make him angry and get him to chase me. Then I use my Instantaneous Movement technique so that he can't ever catch up!"

"But you can only teleport to a ki."

"I know. I can tell five or so people to fly out to different parts of the world so I can move to them. That way, Nightmare would spend so much time trying to find me that he wouldn't care about killing more people."

"Much effort will be needed to force his complete attention onto you. What would you have to do to make him that angry?" The last was rhetorical as the young Kami tried to think of a way; he could not. "I saw the fight between you and Nightmare over the ruins of that once great city. You and Vegeta both attacked him with little effect."

"Would you say that he likes a challenge?" Bra asked.

"Well, of course. Why else would he encourage people to try to escape from him?" The mere thought of the cruelty Nightmare had shown to those poor people made Dende shudder.

"If he challenges Nightmare that should be enough to interest him."

He was completely in awe of her words and more than a little surprised. "I never knew that you were such a smart little girl."

She smiled sweetly. "Obviously you haven't been paying close enough attention. C'mon, guys. We have to go follow tousan's plan."

Both Saiya-jin looked at her, eyebrows raised. "We?" they asked in unison.

"Okay, you." She sighed. "When will I be big enough to fight evil?"

Vegeta actually thought about her question instead of just immediately answering, "Never", which surprised her to no end. "Obtain the ability to transform into Super Saiya-jin and we'll see."

"I can still help you now, though. Please take me to see kaioshin. I want to talk to him."

"How can you even hope to change the mind of the most powerful god in existence?" Dende asked her. "Your father couldn't do it and neither could Goku-san."

Bra gave him another condescending smile. "I'm going to present a case to him that he can't ignore." Motioning to Goku, she took a few steps towards him. "I'm ready."

Suppressing his amusement, Goku took her hand and teleported them to the afterlife.

***

She asked an ogre for directions and was led straight to the Dai Kaio's grand palace. There she stood impatiently in the throne room for him to arrive, not even interested in the strange people conversing around her. Eventually, Bra grew tired of waiting. Raising her small voice, she tried to speed up the arrival of the gods. "This is really, really important!" she shouted. "You're taking so long that the ningen might be all gone by the time I get back!"

"SHH!" about ten people said, forefingers placed upon lips. She ignored them all.

"KAIOSHIN!"

A small door off to the right of the throne opened and he stepped through. He approached her, smiling pleasantly. "What brings you here, Bra?"

Blue eyes narrowed. "You know why. Do we all have to die for you to do something to help us? What have we ever done to deserve being destroyed by evil?"

"Nothing," he said. "You've done nothing at all. In this case, the scales of justice have overbalanced and the Universe has been thrown into chaos." He sighed. "We can do nothing. While both the Dai Kaio and I have the power to entrap him once again in Hell, we are forbidden to use it unless we have no other choice. Nightmare does not threaten all of existence.... just the ningen's existence."

Her face turned a deep red color, but she remained utterly silent. Several times she paced back and forth across the shiny marble floor. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet and did not belie the rage she felt inside. "Do you really think he will stop with Chikyuu? He loves killing; it makes his entire world go 'round. From our planet, to the galaxy, to the entire northern section of the universe. Then, because Buu took care of everything else out there, he'll just rip a hole in space and move on to another dimension. Papa told me a story once about Majin Buu. When he was going to rip holes in the fabric of time and space, you panicked. Why? Because it destabilizes everything. Nightmare is fully capable of doing the same exact thing. Eventually, he will do so.

"K'sorde offered to help us and you people won't let her. No one else besides you two have the power to send him back." She stared him directly in the eyes. "Promise me that you won't wait until it's too late."

His warring emotions were written all over his face. On one hand, he was quite ready to abandon the rules set forth by the Dai Kaioshin so many millennia ago. On the other hand, he knew that those rules were in place for good reason. Without them, order would cease to exist.

"I promise on my honor," he said finally, "and, if what you said is true, then her help will come soon."

"Fine, great, okay." She exhaled deeply. "Will you give me a tour? Tousan can't come get me and I need something to do."

"I can take you back."

Bra thought about his offer and then shook her head. "I'm not refusing because I don't trust you. I'm refusing because I don't want them worrying about me. Gohan really didn't want to look after me, I know. He's not comfortable with his new family."

He nodded. "I've seen. He mistrusts your father a great deal despite the fact that Goku trusts him with his life, his heart, and his soul. Gohan was only a little boy when Vegeta first came to Chikyuu, you know. It will take him many more years to forget that what the Saiya-jin no Ouji once was is not what he is now."

"I understand," she told him and she did. Bra didn't have to like it, but she understood.


	8. Chapter 8

Since Bra wasn't on their plane of existence, there was no way to locate Nightmare. Or so they all thought. Fortunately (or unfortunately, as the case may be), news reports started to show up from noon onward. It seems that one family had made it to Gingertown, a city that had been destroyed by Majin Buu before, and the husband had contacted the police on his cell phone. Before then, Nightmare had been careful to keep things quiet as he didn't want people to be aware of his approach. After he realized that everyone knew, he merely pointed his finger and reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble.

No one really knew how he was doing this. He didn't really have ki in the traditional sense of the word so his energy wasn't released in the usual flashy lightshow. Instead he oozed out dark energy that blanketed an area and left it in ruins.

"This is what we're going to do," Goku said to Vegeta, Goten, Trunks, Gohan, and Piccolo. "I want you to fly out to different parts of the world. We have to keep Nightmare busy until we get help. You should also take some food with you because I have no idea how long it's going to take."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Piccolo asked him. "The plan seems a little farfetched."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure. All I have to do is either make him mad or turn into an amusement." He nodded to them. "Alright, I'll see you later."

Everyone filed out through the front door except Vegeta (who fixed his mate with a hard stare). Goku fidgeted for a few seconds beneath his gaze, refusing to answer his unasked question.

So he questioned him aloud.

"Kakarotto..."

"I  _can't_  tell you," he said stubbornly. Then, as almost an afterthought, he added, "I don't want you to be worried." Of course that worried Vegeta even more.

The shorter Saiya-jin gazed deeply into Goku's eyes, a pleading expression on his face. "Onegai, Goku."

He silently cursed before giving in. Vegeta didn't give him that look often (and especially didn't call him by his Chikyuu name). "I'm going to make a deal with him. If he catches me, then I'm going to let him kill everyone else on the planet unhindered."

Speechless, Vegeta could only stare at him. "Are you insane?!" he asked eventually. "You're Chikyuu-sei's guardian, remember? Guardians don't let the bad guys win!"

"Don't you trust me?" he asked softly. "I don't intend on allowing him to catch up."

"He can create portals. What if he can sense your ki?" He appeared to be very close to tying Goku to something so that he wouldn't be able to provoke the demon. "Let me go with you."

"Vegeta, listen to me." He cradled his head in his hands. "I. Will. Not. Die. There's too much for me to live for. If I feel that the situation's getting out of control, I promise that I'll teleport to Kaio-sama. He wouldn't dare follow me there."

He exhaled and let the matter drop. It was difficult, but he trusted Goku enough to believe that he would do all that he could to avoid a truly bad situation. "Ai shiteru," he whispered.

"Ai shiteru, 'geta." He kissed him gently. "This will all be over soon."

***

"What's going on there?" Bra asked with interest when she noticed a look on concentration on both Dai Kaio and Kaioshin's faces. She shifted on the pillow she was sitting on restlessly. After her earlier conversation with Kaioshin, she was allowed into the private chamber where all the knowledge of the universes were kept. Rows upon rows of books chronicling millions of planetary histories rested upon darkly stained wooden shelves, illuminated by light from a hidden source. She desperately wanted to read at least one but knew that it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Besides, the Dai Kaio was giving her warning looks every few seconds.

"Goku is speaking with Nightmare," Kaioshin muttered distractedly.

She waited a few seconds. When no more was forthcoming, she cleared her throat and asked, "And?"

"And he's convincing him that there is more pleasure in playing a game with him than in randomly killing ningen."

"He actually expects that to work?!" she asked him in shock. Then she shook her head and answered her own question. "What am I saying? Of course he does."

The Dai Kaio shook his head. "If he fails..." He inhaled deeply. "If he fails then there is no hope for the people of Chikyuu-sei." Kaioshin didn't say a word, but the frown on his face did grow deeper.

"I have one-hundred percent faith in my tousan," Bra said confidently. "He can do it. Besides, papa's there to help them and they're the perfect team."

***

"Have you found it yet?" Kuririn shouted to Yamucha over the roar of the wind. They'd followed the signal on the dragonball radar all the way to the desert. It was hot, boring, and a fierce wind had kicked up late that afternoon, blowing sharp grains of sand into every exposed body part. Both were clad in the apparel of the region, long flowing robes of light cloth that offered both protection from the sand and sun as well as being loosely woven to promote ventilation.

The two men had been through more than a few difficult challenges while searching for the dragonballs. One had been swallowed by a gigantic pterodactyl, another was buried pretty deeply in an old woman's basement. Kuririn knew that he would always look upon the last in horror. There had been so many cats in the house that he hadn't been able to walk without accidentally stepping on a tail.

Yamucha continued to dig with his shovel. "Iie! There's so much sand that I might be burying it even further!"

"This isn't working," he muttered to himself. The small man checked the radar once again and saw that the dragonball was still in the same place. "I'm going to use ki to move the sand."

"Are you insane?! You might destroy the dragonball by accident!"

"I know not to use too much energy." Kuririn raised his left hand and concentrated. His hand began to glow in a white light that he directed his blast toward where the dragonball was located. The sand was immediately pressed outward by the force and blown into the air around the forming crater. Within the sand was the dragonball.

"Got it!" Yamcha cheered as he flew up to retrieve it. He did a silly victory dance and placed the ball in his bag with the others that they'd collected. "Finally, the seventh ball."

***

Goku found Nightmare in a ruined city. The dust from his destruction still clouding the sky, joining with dark clouds to create the illusion that night had fallen early. The demon sat, legs folded, high above the exact center and didn't move an inch even when the Saiya-jin came to float before him. "I have a proposition to make."

"Speak it," he said quietly. The red eyes opened and were dull. "I grow tired and the game is no longer as interesting as it used to be."

' _Perfect timing,_ ' he inwardly grinned. "How would you like to play a new game?"

He perked up slightly. "New game?"

"Hai. The object is to catch me before time runs out. I'll travel around the world and, if you tag me before twenty-four hours are up, then I'll let you kill everyone without interference. But if you don't, you must return to Hell." Goku knew that twenty-four hours wasn't enough time, but he wouldn't be able to replenish his energy and Saiya-jin became as defenseless as newborns without the proper amount of fuel.

Nightmare didn't hesitate. So confident was he in his skills that he saw no reason to say no. "It's a deal. When do we start?"

"Now." And with that, Goku touched his fingers to his forehead and vanished.

' _He can't track me,_ ' he said to himself gleefully. ' _Nightmare doesn't have any way to teleport to my location!_ '

No one saw him for more than a few minutes, that is no one besides Vegeta. The small Saiya-jin fixed Goku with a stare that caused him to sit down promptly on the soft green grass of the meadow. The ouji sat across from him. "We have things to discuss, Kakarotto."

"Now?" he whined. "You know I  _can't_  do it now. 'geta, I have to save the world!"

"Who the hell cares about saving this shitty planet right now?" Vegeta asked rhetorically. "I care about  _you_  and  _I_."

"Wonderful time for you to want to have a heart-to-heart chat," Goku muttered to himself sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes heavenward. "Well, I apologize for becoming emotional in times of great stress." His face and eyes then lost all traces of humor. "I don't know what tomorrow will bring and I don't want either of us to die without clearing up a few things."

"We're not going to die."

The carefully blank expression turned into one of great distress. "Neither of us know that for sure! Nightmare is the strongest being we've ever had to face, the one most likely to wipe all of us out for good." He reached forward and took his hands. "I know that I don't have the hope that you do, but there hasn't been a moment when I didn't know that you would do your absolute best. This is no exception."

Vegeta stared at their clasped hands and sighed. "We're neck-deep in shit and sinking fast. Just in case-" His voice hitched and he took a deep breath. "Just in case I don't make it, I want to say that I would have never truly killed you. I felt something even all those years ago, Kakarotto. Something so overwhelming that it frightened me. It still feels that way sometimes, but I can cope as long as I'm with you."

Bringing his hands to his lips, he whispered words into Goku's flesh. " _Mihon yon. Mihon yin. Mihon hielen._ " He looked up, a sad smile on his face. "My heart. My soul. My everything." Deeply moved, Goku pulled the smaller man to him and enfolded him into his arms.

"No matter what, I will find a way back to you. I promise."

"And I to you." They each were content to stay in their lover's arms, not caring the least bit about what was going on in the world -- at least not at that very second. In time they would rejoin those fighting for their right to survive, but for now everything was perfect.

Dark, chilling laughter rang out behind Goku. "An hour. Only an hour." The portal closed behind him and he propped one wickedly clawed foot upon a medium-sized rock. "That was hardly a challenge."

Vegeta's eyes communicated volumes of regret.  _"I'm so sorry."_

 _"Don't be. I'm very happy you said what you did."_  His mind brushed against Vegeta's more firmly and he placed a gentle phantom kiss onto his forehead.  _"I need you to tell the others that time has run out."_

His blood turned to ice water.  _"I won't leave you."_

 _"You will never leave me. I can always feel you in here-"_  He pointed to his head then to his heart.  _"-and in here. As long as our bond exists, as long as we love each other, we will never be truly alone."_  Goku released him reluctantly. Vegeta took a few steps backward, never breaking eye contact, before flying off.

He turned to face Nightmare with weary eyes. "Let's get this over with."

A confused blink. "Excuse me? You told me before that, if caught, you would leave me alone! What are you talking about, now?"

"I lied to you." He winced inwardly as he said it. Those were words he thought would never leave his mouth. "I thought that I would be able to stall for a day to give things time to fall into place. We can't defeat you on our own."

"I see," he answered quietly and then he began to laugh. "Do you think that Kaioshin will actually help you people? They have such strange rules there that I doubt they'd help anyone! Your best bet would be to give in and allow me to absorb your strength." He moved forward with amazing speed and cupped Goku's chin in the palm of his hand. "I don't even have to make it hurt."

"Let me go," he told him quietly.

A wider grin. "Make me."

Goku grabbed his wrist and pulled as he twisted around behind the demon. Nightmare went with the movement and put Goku into an uncomfortable position instead. "Nice try, but not good enough. I'm millennia old, you know. You'll have to do better than that to get me." While he was gloating, he failed to notice the charging ki blast. Goku took his free hand and pressed it firmly to the scaled flesh of the demon's abdomen. Ruby-colored eyes widened as the heat seared.

"You- You burned me!" he wailed, pushing the Saiya-jin away to check his wound. The black scales were completely gone and the pale skin beneath was raw and blistered. His face contorted in rage even as the wound began to heal. "I'll kill you for that!"

His eyes were calm and he even smiled a little. "Well, you can try." In pure, unadulterated fury, Nightmare launched himself at Goku and they began to exchange blows.

He only had to occupy his time, give him such a good fight that he wouldn't want one from innocent ningen. Seriously harming him didn't matter nor did killing him. He only had to distract Nightmare effectively. This was something he knew he could do... and could even enjoy. As long as the demon didn't become  _too_  serious about murdering him, that is.

"I know what you're doing," Nightmare said in a sing-song tone of voice. He delivered a series of rapid-fire punches to Goku's stomach and knocked him down to the ground. His opponent didn't stay down long and was soon back up to face him within seconds.

The dark clouds that had been gathering since early morning finally began to unleash a storm upon the area. Lightening flashed in the distance, illuminating the people on the horizon. Goku nodded grimly and initiated an attack against Nightmare once again.

One particularly loud crash of thunder caused Goku to look upward at the sky for the briefest of moments. He knew rain was very close to falling and that it could reduce visibility dramatically. While he knew that he would be able to fight even if he were blind, Goku wasn't too sure that Nightmare could. He hoped that things finally decided to go in their favor.

He felt a familiar presence draw closer, one that caused him to feel safer immediately. Vegeta joined him in the sky, joined him in his fight against the demon. They alone were Chikyuu's last line of defense; the gods could not be counted on for help.


	9. Chapter 9

Rain fell steadily in large drops, turning the dirt into mud and soaking everyone through to the skin. Goku and Vegeta faced off against Nightmare, with the silent support of Goten, Trunks, Gohan, and Piccolo in the background. The demon appeared bored with the confrontation as if the people standing before him were of little interest.

 _"This is it,"_  Goku said with no anticipation whatsoever. He didn't quite dread the coming battle but nor did he tremble with excitement. Too much was at stake for him to be thrilled, but there hadn't been a time when the good guys lost. He only wished for the entire ordeal to end.

_"Bra hasn't returned."_

_"She will. I doubt we can stall for much longer. She'll get here eventually."_  Bra's arrival would signify the moment that Kaioshin allowed the priestess to aid them. They both knew, because of his fusion with Kibito, that he had obtained the power of teleportation.

He nodded once.  _"Let's do it."_  Simultaneously, they launched themselves at the demon and the fight for Chikyuu-sei began without delay.

A few minutes into battle, Kuririn and Yamcha appeared on the horizon. They landed beside the already assembled warriors and silently watched the fight with grim looks on their faces. Nightmare easily dodged every single punch and kick that the two Saiya-jin threw at him, but they could only barely dodge his.

Vegeta, more than a little angry that his attacks were being blocked, powered up the first level of Super Saiya-jin. Goku quickly followed suit.

"What are we going to do?" Kuririn asked quietly, his eyes darting back and forth as he observed the battle.

Trunks looked at him sharply. "They won't fail."

"How do you know that for sure? There's always a first time."

"You better hope that they don't or we're all going to die." Gohan stared up at Nightmare, an unreadable expression on his face. Not for the first time he regretted his decision to stop training. He knew that the power contained deep inside had been enough in the past to tip the scale in their favor, but there was no way he could help them now.

Goku raised his ki to the second level of Super Saiya-jin in the remote chance that he could gain an edge over the demon. He attacked with renewed vigor and a few began to land. ' _Why is this happening? I went up to two before and I didn't hurt him... What's different about this time?'_

"How long has it been since you last killed, Nightmare?" Vegeta asked suddenly from behind. The demon spun around to face him, anger in his eyes.

"It isn't any of your business!"

"That long, eh?" He smirked. "You're losing your edge. You can't go very long without reveling in death, I bet. It's a source of power for you. Without it you're weakened."

He glared at him, hatred in his eyes. "You know nothing of what I am."

"I know enough."

Was that true? Could they actually defeat him now? Goku didn't know but he was sure going to find out. He powered up to the highest transformation that he could obtain and silently prayed that it would be enough.

Sensing that there was more to the change than just appearance, Nightmare began to back off in the hope that he could find enough time to create an escape portal. Vegeta grabbed him by his long, sinuous tail and held tight. "Oh, no you don't. You aren't going anywhere."

Nightmare panicked. He didn't want to go back -- there were still many people alive on the planet! In his mind, he quickly ran down his options. a) He could try to fight off Vegeta and Goku. b) He could try to create a portal. c) He could try to force the healing to speed up. d) He could ensure his victory by killing someone. The demon smiled as he considered the fourth option. If he found a good enough victim, the death would give him a large power boost as well as heal all of his injuries. No one would be able to stop him then.

He concentrated until he could see the auras of the people around him. Several of them were filled with a bright white, but only one person's contained more white than all the others. His smile became larger as he stared at him and imagined destroying his perfect purity as if it had never been. Oh, what joy he would receive from snuffing out a spirit such as this!

"Why is that look on your face?" Goku asked, starting to feel uncomfortable beneath his gaze. There was no response, only a larger smile.

Quietly, almost beneath his breath, he began to weave a spell around them that left all in a trance. It took most of his remaining energy to do so, but he knew it would be worth it. Only Goku remained alert and very, very confused. He knew that nothing good could come from it, but knew that he had no chance to stop the demon by himself. Besides, his eyes could not leave the black-scaled form no matter how hard he tried.

In the midst of his chanting, Nightmare unleashed some of his dark energy and sent it to his enemy faster than the eye could see. Like a living wave, it flowed toward him in a loose formation. He saw it coming but couldn't fathom why his body refused to move. His brain eventually sent the command throughout the rest of his body but it was too late. Goku, slow to react, twisted aside to avoid it and cringed when it followed his movement and struck him deep within his chest, narrowly missing his heart.

Nightmare set the rest of them free of his incantation so that they could witness the death of the one they loved so much.

Time slowed and Vegeta felt as if he had forever to catch his lifemate before he fell to the soggy ground below. He released Nightmare's scaly tail and launched himself forward as fast as he could.

It was like a bad dream. His hand seemed mere inches from Goku's body but he just could not close the gap between them. With a burst of speed born of desperation, he grabbed hold of the younger man's arm and brought him to a stop. Time sped up to a normal pace. "Say something," he pleaded, fearing that he'd been too late. "Onegai, Kakarotto."

Goku's eyelashes fluttered for a few seconds before his eyes opened. "I'm sorry I broke my promise."

He brought him close to his body, arms wrapped around his chest. "Don't say that. You didn't break anything!"

"It's okay, 'geta. I can be wished back with Dende's dragonballs." He sighed and shuddered with pain. "Ai shiteru." Then his eyes closed once more and the ouji felt his mate's heart cease to beat.

Silently he dropped down to the earth, Goku's body cradled in his arms. He laid him gently upon the grass and kneeled beside him. "I couldn't stop him," he whispered as he placed a tender kiss onto his cold forehead. His heart and soul felt as if they had been torn into two, half of each dying along with Goku. He could never replace them with anyone else.

Hot tears cascaded down his cheeks and mingled with the still-falling rain. Vegeta looked up to the heavens, emotion welling up from deep inside of him. It grew greater and greater in intensity until he howled his grief at the uncaring sky. The pain of severance was becoming too much. It weighed heavily within his body, making him lethargic and depressed.

There was nothing he could do for Goku now, but something had to be done in retribution for his death. Killing his lifemate and destroying the bond were crimes that _could not_  go unpunished.

"You are dead," he said in a voice so cold that it left all within earshot shivering. Nightmare did not falter. Having regained a lot of energy from Goku's death, he had faith that Vegeta wouldn't stand a chance against him. The small Saiya-jin rose and stalked over to where the demon still floated. He looked upward, eyes hard chips of obsidian ice, and spoke again. "You will pay with your life."

"Promises, promises," he chuckled. "But can you back them up?"

There was no response, only a dark smirk touched his lips. He took one calm step forward, then another, but was stopped by an unusual occurrence.

Kaioshin had teleported in front of him.

The deity kneeled, head bowed sadly. "I am sorry, Vegeta. Nothing I can do will make up for this."

Bra sniffled as she looked over at her step-father's corpse, but then she looked up at her father, hope in her eyes. "There's one thing, Papa."

The kaio nodded. "Hai. I'm going to let the priestess aid you."

He glared in response. "Is it because I'm the weaker Saiya-jin and you're afraid that I'm going to lose?"

"Iie, it's because I waited too long and a wonderful person was taken because of it. He was one of the people I'm sworn to protect."

Everyone fell silent for a long moment while the demon looked curiously on. "K'sorde?" Bra said finally.

 _"I am here."_  Her gentle voice, originating within Bra, entered the minds of Kaioshin and Vegeta as well.

"Please help my Papa. He needs it more than I do."

_"I understand. Please place your hands upon your father. It will just take a moment."_

With tears trickling down her cheeks (forming as the stark reality of Goku's death caught up with her) she laid her hands onto Vegeta's abdomen, palm down. There was a great warmth as K'sorde's link with her was transferred. "Get him, Papa," she whispered as she took a step backward.

_"It will take great strength to seal him. Are you prepared?"_

He paused a moment to think back to all the happy memories he'd shared with Goku both before and during their short relationship. It also made him, consequently, remember that Nightmare had prematurely ended his mate's life. "Oh, I'm prepared. I'm more prepared for this than anything else in my entire life."

_"Then we shall begin. Follow my instructions and he will trouble you no longer."_

_***_

K'sorde hummed as she swept the walkway that ran around all four sides of the church. It was easy work that allowed her mind to wander onto more interesting things. She wondered how her brothers and sisters in Ikar fared with the construction of their new school. They had heard nothing from them since late fall, which wasn't unusual since heavy snowfall in the mountains often prevented messengers from heading their way. When the merchants arrived to hawk their wares, all would know that the roads were, at last, clear.

A soft sound caught her attention. Bells tinkled as if moved by wind, but there was none to be had. The priestess cast worried eyes to the sky. Why was Etha visiting her in these times of peace?

 _"Be at ease, my child,"_  the goddess' voice soothed.  _"Trouble has not befallen your world."_

_"Great Mother, excuse my impertinence, but why have you come? I have never heard of you giving casual visits."_

She chuckled.  _"I cannot be angry with the truth. While it is true that Remnar is at peace, another world is not. This world has many defenders, but none match the power of their newest foe."_

 _"I assume that this concerns me. Why, Great Mother?"_  She was confused. Of course K'sorde had known that there were more worlds out there than just fair Remnar --it would be self-centered of her not to think so --, but never had Etha spoken to her about them.

_"Their enemy is your own, my child."_

Gasping softly, she covered her mouth in absolute shock.  _"You can't mean...?"_

_"Yes. Nightmare has escaped his imprisonment and is currently terrorizing the people on another plane."_

_"They are fighting him?"_

_"With all of their strength, but none can hope to injure one that is invulnerable."_

She was beginning to see why she'd been contacted; someone needed her help. _"I have to seal him away again because they cannot do it themselves."_

_"Yet I cannot help you get there. The highest of the high gods has placed restriction over me, my child. This is something you will have to do on your own."_

_"I understand. There is one I believe who can help."_

Warmth spread throughout her body and she could almost feel the arms of the goddess embrace her.  _"You are a good woman, K'sorde. There is a place of high honor for you in the Shining Kingdom when you decide to move on."_

Tears sprang to her eyes.  _"I am eternally grateful."_  She felt Etha's connection with her fade, but not entirely. It was a comfort to know that she would be watched over.

The following day, K'sorde packed for her trip into the nearby Khalkilist Mountains. She didn't have many personal belongings to begin with so it took her only ten minutes. After saying goodbye to her friends, she shouldered her pack and, staff in hand, started off to the magician's house.

Long ago, before she had taken the vows of the Church, she lived in a small coastal village of farmers and fishermen in the northern hemisphere. Many of the people there hated change and would rather remain stagnant than to differ in any way. Over time, this mentality grew so terrible that anyone different from the main populace were usually driven from the village.

When she was thirteen, a family moved into the area with their twelve-year-old daughter, Meilyn. All three had dark complexions that lasted even in wintertime. At first the villagers were wary of them, but it eventually faded over time. Soon, the family was as much a part of the community as those who had started it in the first place.

K'sorde had become friends with Meilyn; they had much in common. Soon, the two were inseparable and knew each other so well that they'd begun to finish each other's sentences. However, when Meilyn was fifteen she started keeping secrets from her best-friend and would stay out all night long doing who knows what. K'sorde was worried about her, but could never get a straight answer about what was wrong.

On the night before she was to leave for Lemnos to begin her training, Meilyn asked her to sneak out after dark. Despite reservations, K'sorde did as she requested. She had a feeling that the midnight meeting would explain why her friend had been acting so strange lately.

They met in a clearing just outside the village. It was far enough away that the villagers wouldn't see them, but still close enough that they could escape to safety just in case danger decided to find them. K'sorde took a seat on a fallen tree and waited patiently for Meilyn to speak.

"You probably want to know why I've been acting so strange," she said. "Well, mother and father have been hiding things from me. Two years ago something strange happened; I set a tree on fire."

"That's serious, but not serious enough for you to avoid me."

Meilyn blinked confusedly for a moment then laughed bitterly. "No, I did not set flint to striker. I was angry at my parents and found myself glaring at a tree. Then I set it on fire with my mind. That was an evil act, so say the Priests of Mirr. You're destined for the church; I thought that you would hate me."

She rose and went over to her friend. "How could I hate you? You're like family to me."

"My parents didn't tell me that they knew I would have powers. They do, too, but they aren't as strong as mine."

" 'Two mages should never procreate together; to do so is to give birth to a being powerful enough to destroy kingdoms.' It is written in the Mestha, that is true, but the Mirrian priests are notoriously known for misinterpreting the ancient texts." She placed her hands onto Meilyn's shoulders. "You are not evil nor do you have enough unchecked power to kill us unintentionally. The odds of a child being born with such strength is a million to one."

"Thank you, 'sordy," she sobbed in relief. "That had been bothering me for so long..."

The memory always made her both smile and frown. From that point on they'd resumed their closeness, but she hated that it had to come at such a price. Meilyn had been in so much emotional pain that night.

The hike up the mountain was a fairly easy one since she was not an indolent person. It was around noon when she reached the small cottage that belonged to her dearest friend. While they corresponded on occasion, she hadn't actually seen her since two Springs before.

Her friend's face broke out into a sunny smile when she saw who was at the door. She wore a white robe typical of the Mages of Light and the scent of herbs hovered around her. " 'sordy! Long time no see!" She ushered her in. "Sit down, I'll bring out snacks."

Doing as told, the priestess looked around the tidy home. It hadn't changed a bit. Meilyn had an odd sense of style and it was reflected in how her home was decorated. Pale colored curtains clashed with brightly woven rugs and funny little knick-knacks from all over the world lined many, many shelves. K'sorde smiled when she saw the Solstice gift she'd sent to Meilyn last year sitting on the mantle.

"So, what brings you my way?" her friend asked from the kitchen. "I've heard that this year will be a busy one for the Church. Aren't you needed in Lemnos?"

"Etha sent me," she said simply. In a way, that was true. In the many years of Meilyn's life, she had appeared in more than one history. It documented her bravery and power, her willingness to help others, and her tireless efforts to recover what had been lost during the Nightmare Years. Her friend was heralded as a hero of the highest order.

The clattering of dishes stopped and Meilyn looked at her from around the doorway, surprise clear on her face. "She  _what_?"

The problem was explained over tea and cookies. The mage had a thoughtful look on her face throughout and was silent long after K'sorde ceased to speak. Abruptly she stood up and went over to a bookshelf. "Where is the book?" she mumbled to herself as she searched. "It should be in there... Ah!"

Hope dawned in the priestess' eyes. "You can really help me?"

Flipping gingerly through aged pages, she answered, "I believe so. There is a spell, seldom used, that the Mages of Darkness often used to visit other planes."

"Why do you have a copy of it?"

She looked over and winked at her with a smile. "For curiosity's sake, of course."

"Of course."

"Here we are." She handed her the book and perched on the chair arm beside her. "Lae's Mind Transport. While not specifically a dark spell, the Mages often used it to learn from other cultures. They have always been more studious than the rest of us. You won't physically be able to travel there, but I don't believe that's necessary in this case."

K'sorde nodded and then began to fidget. She needed to ask the question but didn't want to risk offending her friend. Sighing, she gathered up her courage and asked, "Can you-"

"-cast the spell? Yes, I believe so." She started to laugh. "Oh, don't give me that look. I can't read your mind."

"Then... how?"

"I saw the look on your face and I know you well enough to know that you tap your feet when uncomfortable." Meilyn placed a marker between the pages and rose. "Come, 'sordy. Off to the lab."

***

_"I used a staff to focus my energy, but I doubt that you need something like that. Call for the power, Vegeta. I will transmit your plea to my goddess, Etha."_

He felt more than a little silly praying (Saiya-jin had never been particularly religious), but it would save Chikyuu  _and_  stop Nightmare in one fell swoop. "Um, Etha? If you're listening, I need a little help over here."

Covering her mouth, Bra started to laugh a little despite the circumstances. "Papa, you're not being very humble."

_"She is right. Please treat the Great Mother with the respect that she deserves."_

The word humble made him tense up, but he knew that they both made sense. "Oh, alright. Etha, please give me the power to get rid of Nightmare. He killed my mate, as well as a large group of other people, so he needs to be dealt with."

K'sorde sighed.  _"Is that the best you can do?"_

"Hai. I do have my pride, you know."

_"Very well. It will just take a moment."_

They began to wait.

Several moments went by, the onlookers growing more nervous by the second. Yamucha and Kuririn could hear nothing of what the small group was saying despite having moved closer when Goku's body was placed on the ground and was wondering just why Vegeta decided not to fight.

"Is he afraid of him?" Yamucha asked, secretly pleased that it may be the case. It was pretty bad that he had to discover it when he did, though. If it was true, then he wouldn't be living much longer.

Gohan glared at him and the older man shrank backward a little. "I may not like him, but you can always count on Vegeta's courage. He's waiting on divine assistance."

They exchanged looks and exclaimed, "VEGETA?!"

"Yes, 'Vegeta'," Trunks frowned. "What part of, 'He's trying to help us' don't you understand?"

Goten looked at him with a sad smile. "Let it go, Trunks. You know in your heart that he's a good person, and so do I. Who cares what everyone else thinks?"

Movement caught their attention as Vegeta abruptly lifted his head to the sky. They saw him nod and then he was engulfed in white light, the purest any of them had ever seen other than in dearly departed Goku's aura. He pointed his index finger at Nightmare's body and concentrated. Only the Saiya-jin and Piccolo heard his next words. "Return to Hell where you belong!"

Ruby-colored eyes opened wide in shock. "No! You won't do this to me again, Priestess!" He turned to fly away, but the holy light struck lightening quick. It wrapped around his body and restrained him in shining purity. A small hole about the size of a dinner plate opened below him, one that quickly grew so large that the Capsule Corporation in it's entirety could fit through. It did not touch the ground but hovered between the demon and his almost-victims. Darkness as deep as starless space swirled on the other side of the hole and appeared to be sucking the demon down into it. He struggled, thrashing around frantically, but Etha's power refused to relinquish its hold. "No! No! NO!" He disappeared completely within the portal, still screaming protests. It closed behind him so completely that no sign remained.

All was silent for quite some time as if they expected Nightmare to return at any moment. Then Kaioshin sighed and bowed to Vegeta. "I have things to attend to. I give you my word that he will trouble you no longer."

Vegeta nodded absently as he silently stared at his mate's body. During the excitement of the final battle, he had almost forgotten that he was dead. He'd even half expected to see Goku grinning at him as the demon vanished. But now that there was nothing to distract him, the pain of loss once again made its presence known. "Where are the dragonballs?" he said hoarsely.

Kuririn and Yamucha exchanged glances, but neither answered. Seeing the proud Saiya-jin no Ouji in such a state shocked them nearly beyond belief. When no response was forthcoming, he asked again with an accompanying glare.

"Backpack," the short ningen stuttered. He was still very much terrified of Vegeta. He slipped the straps from his shoulders, and offered the black bag to the older man. "H-here." There were only about ten feet separating the two, but it was land that Kuririn was unwilling to cross. With a roll of his eyes, Yamucha took the pack from him and handed it to the distraught prince.

Vegeta grasped it tightly in his hands for a moment before removing the dragonballs. He smiled to himself slightly as he thought of Goku alive and well once more. "Soon, koibito," he whispered. "Soon."

**Author's Note:**

> Hai, yet another ogre has screwed everyone over (see DBZ Movie #12: The Rebirth of Fusion: Goku and Vegeta). Will they ever learn? =)


End file.
